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MY    ROYAL    CLIENTS 


X.\VIER   PAOLI. 


[Froitlispiecc. 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 


BY 

XAVIER    PAOLI 

LATE    SPECIAL    COMMISSAKY    ATTACHED    TO    THE 
PARIS    DETECTIVE-SERVICE 


Translated  by 
ALEXANDER    TEIXEIRA    DE    MATTOS 


HODDER    AND    STOUGHTON 

LONDON   NEW  YORK   TORONTO 


Richard  Clay  &  Sons,  Limited, 

brunswick  street,  stamford  strkbt,  s.e., 

and  bumoay,  suffolk. 


J) 


INTRODUCTION 

France  has  been  described  by  a  latter-day 
historian  as  the  holiday  paradise  of  kings.  The 
predilection  shown  by  foreign  potentates  for 
visiting  our  country  lays  a  heavy  and  a  rather 
delicate  responsibility  upon  its  rulers.  The 
French  government  has  to  take  measures  to 
ensure  the  safety  of  our  royal  guests  and  to 
arrange  matters  in  such  a  way  that  a  guard  is 
kept  around  them  which  is  not  only  constant  and 
watchful,  but,  at  the  same  time,  sufficiently 
discreet  to  leave  them  the  illusion  of  absolute 
freedom  when  they  visit  France  incognito,  to- 
gether with  the  satisfaction  of  being  able  to 
throw  off  all  constraint  and  mingle  unreservedly 
with  the  crowd. 

The  fulfilment  of  this  responsibility  repre- 
sented my  task  for  five-and-twenty  years.  My 
duties  began  as  soon  as  the  government  was 
advised,  through  diplomatic  channels,  of  the 
approaching  arrival  of  a  sovereign  or  minor 
member  of  a  royal  house.  I  would  receive  from 
the  Ministry  of  the  Interior  an  official  letter  of 
appointment  informing  me  of  the  place  selected 
by  our  guest  for  his  stay,  the  name  and  title 
under  which  he  was  travelling,  the  number  and 


X  ^i  /<x  *  J'  -4.  —i-  <-» 


INTRODUCTION 

quality  of  the  persons  who  were  to  accompany 
him,  and  the  exact  time  at  which  the  imperial  or 
royal  train  would  enter  French  territory.     Fur- 
nished with  these  particulars,  I  at  once  packed 
my  trunk  and  started  with  my  secretaries  for  the 
watering-place   or   other   health-resort   at   which 
the    iUustrious    personage    was    expected.       On 
arriving,  I  communicated  with  the  prefect  of  the 
department,  the  mayor  of  the  town,  and  the  chief 
of  the  local  police ;  I  made  minute  enquiries  con- 
cerning the  people  who  were  likely  to  come  into 
contact    with    the    royal    visitor,   especially  the 
servants  of  the  hotel  at  which  he  was  to  stay;  I 
examined  their  papers  and  subjected  them  to  an 
elaborate  interrogatory.     I  next  investigated  the 
character  of  the  foreigners  living  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood.    Lastly,  I  studied  the  topography  of 
the    district.     Excursions    play    a    considerable 
part    in  the  holidays   of    sovereigns.      Whether 
they  be  young  or  old,  whether  they  come  from 
the  south  or  from  the  north,   sight-seeing  and 
tripping     generally     constitute    their     favourite 
pastime.     From  the  moment  of  their  arrival  to 
their  departure,  they  enjoy  roaming  along  the 
roads,  in  carriages  or  on  foot ;  they  want  to  visit 
every  show-place  and  to  explore  all  the  country 
round  about  :  a  king  abroad  is  something  hke  a 
schoolboy  on  his  holidays  and  loves  to  intoxicate 
himself  with  fresh  air,  with  the  sense  of  space  and 
movement. 

I,  therefore,  considered  it  very  important  to 
know  all  the  walks  and  drives  in  the  country 


INTRODUCTION 

beforehand  :  in  this  way  I  was  able  to  discover 
which  of  them  offered  any  danger,  either 
because  of  their  lonehness  and  the  natural  facili- 
ties which  they  offered  for  the  laying  of  an 
ambuscade,  or  by  reason  of  the  suspicious  indi- 
viduals who  were  generally  to  be  met  there.  I 
was  also  led  to  make  these  preliminary  re- 
searches by  a  consideration  of  a  purely  aesthetic 
character.  I  knew  how  greatly  my  clients 
appreciated,  from  the  point  of  view  of  their 
amusements,  the  disinterested  advice  of  a  person 
already  acquainted  with  the  district.  I  myself, 
on  the  other  hand,  always  took  a  subtle  pleasure 
in  concealing  from  them,  as  far  as  possible,  the 
overpowering  and  often  irritating  side  of  my 
mission.  Officially  the  protector  of  the  kings,  I 
applied  my  mind  to  acting  as  their  Baedeker,  a 
Baedeker  always  open  at  the  page  which  they 
wished  to  consult  at  the  moment. 

When  my  local  enquiries  were  completed  and 
the  main  lines  of  a  discreet  supervision  fixed, 
when  I  had  nothing  more  to  learn  about  the 
people  and  places  around,  I  set  out  to  meet  our 
guest,  went  to  await  his  arrival  at  the  frontier- 
station.  I  have  a  very  clear  recollection  of  those 
little  railway- stations,  often  tucked  away  in  some 
dull  country-side,  with  that  special  animation  of 
their  own  and  that  melancholy  aspect,  that  mys- 
terious and  alarming  atmosphere,  which  our 
imagination  creates  for  them.  How  often  have 
I  not  paced  their  platforms,  peering  into  the 
distance,  beyond  the  long  ribbon  of  the  railway- 


INTRODUCTION 

lines,  for  the  first  glimpse  of  a  white  lamp  and  a 
puff  of  smoke ! 

As  soon  as  the  special  train  pulled  up  at  the 
platform,  I  was  asked  to  step  into  the  royal 
carriage.  The  presentation  was  quickly  made, 
the  welcome  nearly  always  friendly;  and  nearly 
always  the  august  traveller  would  say,  with  a 
smile : 

"  M.  Paoli,  we  have  met  before." 

I  was  invited,  cordially  and  simply,  to  remain 
in  the  compartment  and  made  to  answer  a 
number  of  questions  about  the  country  through 
which  we  were  passing  and  that  through  which 
we  were  about  to  pass.  The  ice  was  broken; 
from  that  moment  I  entered  upon  my  func- 
tions, which  were  of  a  manifold,  although  not  of 
a  fixed  character.  They  were  not,  as  I  have 
explained  elsewhere,  limited  to  keeping  a  constant 
watch  over  the  royal  person;  they  were  summed 
up  more  especially  in  this  vaguely  comprehensive 
formula  :  *'  To  make  our  guest's  stay  in  France 
as  agreeable  as  possible,  so  that  he  may  take 
back  with  him  the  best  impression  of  our 
country,"  a  mandate  on  the  political  importance 
of  which  I  need  hardly  insist. 

I  began,  therefore,  by  making  enquiries  among 
the  persons  forming  the  royal  suite  as  to  the 
sovereign's  habits  and  tastes,  not  to  say  his 
peculiarities  and  fancies.  I  strove  to  forestall 
his  wishes,  to  spare  him  the  thousand  and  one 
little  worries  which  no  traveller,  not  even 
a     king,    is    wholly    able     to     avoid.       I     also 


INTRODUCTION 

taxed  my  ingenuity  to  ward  off  the  intruders 
and  petitioners — and  their  name  is  legion— who 
always  beset  the  path  of  sovereign  rulers. 

When  we  reached  our  destination,  the  detec- 
tives in  my  service  whom  I  had  had  posted  at  the 
railway-station  either  told  me,  with  a  glance, 
that  all  was  well,  or  warned  me,  with  a  word  in 
my  ear,  of  a  possible  risk.  In  this  way,  I  have 
often,  at  the  last  moment  and  without  ever 
betraying  my  reason,  had  occasion  respectfully 
but  firmly  to  beg  our  guest  to  alter  his  route,  or 
else  to  order  the  driver  of  the  carriage  to  take  a 
different  road  from  that  which  he  was  supposed 
to  follow. 

Once  installed  at  the  hotel,  I  received  daily 
telegraphic  communications  from  our  special 
provincial  commissaries.  Sometimes  they  would 
inform  me  of  the  presence  in  their  department 
of  a  dangerous  anarchist,  who  had  had  the 
impudence  to  make  some  threatening  remark 
about  our  royal  visitor;  sometimes  they  would 
announce  the  sudden  disappearance  of  sus- 
pected strangers;  sometimes  they  advised  me  of 
the  approaching  arrival  of  some  ill-intentioned 
individual.  I  took  my  measures  in  accordance 
and  handed  on  the  personal  descriptions  to  the 
local  police  and  gendarmery.  Every  evening,  I 
dispatched  to  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior  a 
cipher  report,  in  which  I  set  down  the  smallest 
incidents  of  the  day.  The  reports  were  fre- 
quently sent  to  the  President  of  the  Republic, 
who,  by  this  means,  was  kept  informed  of  the 

ix 


INTRODUCTION 

impressions  received  by  our  guest.  I  was 
occasionally  employed  to  act  as  an  intermediary 
between  the  government  and  the  sovereign,  in 
connection  with  some  wish  which  the  latter  may 
have  expressed,  or  with  the  settling  of  some 
question  of  international  etiquette  which  did  not 
necessitate  a  more  formal  official  interference, 
so  that  matters  were  arranged  without  our  having 
to  resort  to  the  solemn  and  ponderous  apparatus 
of  diplomacy. 

As  I  have  shown,  my  functions  were  manifold. 
I  frankly  admit  that  the  incessant  activity  which 
they  compelled  me  to  display  has  been  amply 
rewarded  by  the  interest  of  the  recollections  which 
they  left  in  my  mind.  For  twenty-five  years,  I 
have  lived  in  the  midst  of  an  ever-changing 
portrait-gallery  of  sovereigns;  I  have  had  the 
opportunity  of  seeing  and  observing  them  in 
the  intimacy  of  their  private  Uves.  During  that 
quarter  of  a  century,  I  have  gathered  many  im- 
pressions ;  and  it  is  these  impressions  which  I  now 
propose  to  record. 

Xavier  Paoli. 


CONTENTS 


PAOE 

Introduction v 


CHAPTER  I 

The  Empress  Elizabeth  of  Austria    ....        1 

CHAPTER  II 
King  Alfonso  XIII 43 

CHAPTER  III 
The  Shah  of  Persia 77 

CHAPTER  IV 

The  Tsar  Nicholas  II.  and  the  Tsaritsa  Alexandra 

Feodorovna •        .        .115 

CHAPTER  V 

The  King  and  Queen  of  Italy 147 

CHAPTER  VI 

George  I.  King  of  the  Hellenes       ....     176 

xi 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  VII 

PAGE 

King  Edward  VII 200 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Queen  Wilhelmina  of  the  Netherlands    .        .        .     234 

CHAPTER  IX 

The  late  King  of  the  Belgians         .        .        .        .     259 

CHAPTER  X 

The  English  Royal  Family 287 

CHAPTER  XI 

The  King  of  Cambodia 311 

CHAPTER  XII 

Queen  Victoria 329 


xu 


CHAPTER   I 

THE    EMPRESS    ELIZABETH    OF    AUSTRIA 


My  reason  for  first  evoking  the  infinitely 
fascinating  and  melancholy  image  of  the  Empress 
Elizabeth  of  Austria  is  that  she  presents  a  special 
type  among  the  royal  and  imperial  majesties 
to  whose  persons  I  was  attached  during  their 
different  stays  in  France;  and  this  both  on 
account  of  her  life,  which  was  one  long  romance, 
and  of  her  death,  which  was  a  tragedy. 

Hers  was  a  strange,  sad  soul;  and  she  dis- 
appeared suddenly,  as  in  a  dream  of  terror.  She 
hovers  round  my  memory  crowned  with  the  halo 
of  unhappiness ;  and  I  at  once  think  of  her  when 
I  take  up  my  pen. 

The  first  time  that  I  saw  her  was  at  Geneva ;  and 
I  cannot  recall  this  detail  without  emotion,  for 
it  was  at  Geneva  that  she  was  to  die  under  the 
assassin's  dagger.  At  the  end  of  August  1895, 
the  government  received  notice  from  the  French 
Embassy  in  Vienna  that  the  Empress  was  about 
to  visit  Aix-les-Bains  in  Savoy;  she  was  to 
travel  from  her  palace  of  Miramar  through 
Italy  and  Switzerland ;  and,  as  usual,  I  received 
my    formal    letter    of    appointment    from    the 

B  1 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

Ministry  of  the  Interior,  instructing  me  to  go 
and  meet  the  Empress  at  the  international 
railway-station  at  Geneva.  The  letter  was 
couched  in  the  following  terms  : — 

"FRENCH  REPUBLIC 

"  Ministry  of  the  Interior 

Paris,  29  August,  1895. 
"  The  Chief  Commissioner  of  the  Detective-service 

"  To  Monsieur  Paoli,  special  commissary  attached  to  the 
Criminal  Investigation  Department. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  inform  you  that 
H.I.M.  the  Empress  of  Austria,  Queen  of  Hungary, 
travelling  in  the  strictest  incognito  under  the 
name  of  Countess  Hohenembs  and  proceeding  to 
Aix-les-Bains,  will  arrive  at  the  railway- station 
at  Geneva  on  the  10th  of  September  1895  at 
8.45  a.m. 

"  The  imperial  suite  will  be  composed  of  the 
following  persons  : 

"  1.  Countess  Irma  Sztaray,  lady-in-waiting. 

"  2.  His  Excellency  Major-General  von  Berze- 
viczy,  Oherstallmeister  (master  of  the  horse). 

"3.  M.  Marinaky,  Greek  reader. 

"  4.  Ritter  von  Feifalick,  secretary. 

"  5.  Fraulein  von  Meissel,  waiting-woman. 

"  6.  Frau  von  Feifalick,  dresser. 

"  7.  Five  men-servants. 

"  The  bulk  of  the  imperial  luggage,  consisting 
of  sixty-three  trunks,  will  be  in  charge  of  the 
footman  Melchior  Marz,  who  has  been  furnished 
2 


THE    EMPRESS   ELIZABETH 

with  a  passport  and  a  special  permit  by  the 
French  Embassy  in  Vienna,  and  who  will  precede 
Her  Imperial  Majesty  by  a  few  hours.  I  hereby 
instruct  you  to  ensure  the  safety  of  Her  Imperial 
Majesty  during  her  stay  in  French  territory,  to 
take  all  the  necessary  measures  for  this  purpose, 
and  also  to  see  that  her  incognito  is  scrupulously 
respected. 

"  The  Chief  Commissioner 

OF  THE  Detective-service." 

I  confess  that,  when  I  stepped  into  the  train, 
I  experienced  a  keen  sense  of  curiosity  at  the 
thought  that  I  was  soon  to  find  myself  in  the 
presence  of  the  lady  who  was  already  surrounded 
by  an  atmosphere  of  legend,  and  who  was  known 
as  "  the  wandering  Empress."  I  had  been  told 
numerous  more  or  less  veracious  stories  of  her 
restless  and  romantic  life;  I  had  heard  that  she 
talked  little,  that  she  smiled  but  rarely,  and  that 
she  always  seemed  to  be  pursuing  a  distant 
dream. 

My  first  impression,  however,  when  I  saw 
her  alight  from  her  carriage  on  the  Geneva 
platform,  was  very  different  from  that  which  I 
was  prepared  to  receive.  The  Empress,  at  that 
time,  was  fifty-eight  years  of  age.  She  looked 
like  a  girl;  she  had  the  figure  of  a  girl,  with  a 
girl's  lightness  and  grace  of  movement. 

Tall  and  slender,  with  a  touch  of  stiffness  in 
her  bearing,  she  had  a  rather  fresh-coloured  face, 
deep,  dark  and  extraordinarily  lustrous  eyes,  and 

B2  3 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

a  wealth  of  chestnut  hair.  I  reahzed  later  that 
she  owed  her  vivacious  colouring  to  the  long  walks 
which  she  was  in  the  constant  habit  of  taking. 
She  wore  a  smartly-cut  tailor-made  dress,  all  in 
black,  which  accentuated  the  slimness  of  her 
wasp-like  waist.  The  beauty  of  her  figure  was 
a  matter  of  which  she  was  frankly  vain  :  she 
had  herself  weighed  every  day. 

I  was  also  struck  by  the  smallness  of  her  hands, 
the  musical  intonation  of  her  voice,  and  the  purity 
with  which  she  expressed  herself  in  French, 
although  she  pronounced  her  words  with  a 
slightly  guttural  accent. 

One  disappointment,  however,  awaited  me  : 
my  reception  was  icy  cold.  In  spite  of  the 
experience  which  I  had  acquired  during  the 
exercise  of  my  special  functions,  it  left  me 
disconcerted.  My  feeling  of  discomfort  was  still 
further  increased  when,  on  reaching  Aix-les- 
Bains,  General  von  Berzeviczy,  whom  I  had  asked 
for  an  interview  in  order  to  arrange  for  the 
organization  of  my  department,  answered,  curtly  : 

"  We  sha'n't  want  anybody." 

These  four  words,  beyond  a  doubt,  constituted 
a  formal  dismissal,  an  invitation  both  clear 
and  concise  to  take  the  first  train  back  to  Paris. 
My  position  became  one  of  singular  embarrass- 
ment. Invested  with  a  confidential  mission,  I 
began  by  inspiring  distrust  in  the  very  persons 
to  whom  this  mission  was  addressed ;  charged  to 
watch  and  remove  "  suspects,"  I  myself  appeared 
to  be  more  suspected  than  any  ! 
4 


THE   EMPRESS   ELIZABETH 

Nevertheless,  I  resolved  that  I  would  not  be 
denied.  I  organized  my  service  without  the 
knowledge  of  our  guests.  Every  morning,  I 
returned  to  see  General  von  Berzeviczy.  Avoiding 
any  allusion  to  the  real  object  of  my  visit,  I  did 
my  best  to  overcome  his  coldness.  The  general 
was  a  very  kind  man  at  heart,  and  a  charming 
talker.  I  told  him  the  gossip  of  the  day, 
the  news  from  Paris,  the  tittle-tattle  of  Aix. 
I  advised  excursions,  mentioned  the  curiosities 
worth  seeing,  conscientiously  fulfilled  my  part 
of  Baedeker  .  .  .  and,  when  I  carelessly  questioned 
the  general  about  the  Empress's  intentions  as 
to  the  employment  of  her  day,  he  forgot  him- 
self to  the  extent  of  telling  me.  This  was  all 
that  I  wanted  to  achieve. 

In  a  week's  time,  we  were  the  best  of  friends. 
The  Empress  had  condescended  to  appreciate 
my  attention  in  daily  covering  her  table  with 
newspapers  and  reviews.  She  gradually  became 
accustomed  to  seeing  me  appear  just  in  time  to 
forestall  her  wishes.  The  game  was  won;  and, 
when,  later,  curious  to  know  the  cause  of  what 
appeared  to  me  to  have  been  a  misunderstanding, 
I  asked  General  von  Berzeviczy  to  explain 
the  cause  of  his  disappointing  reception,  he 
replied : 

"  It  was  simply  because,  when  we  go  abroad, 
they  generally  send  us  officials  who,  under  the 
pretence  of  protecting  us,  terrorize  us.  They 
appear  to  us  like  Banquo's  ghost,  with  long 
faces  and  rolling  eyes ;   they  see  assassins  on  every 

5 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

side;  they  poison  and  embitter  our  holidays. 
That  is  why  you  struck  us  at  first  as  suspicious." 

"  And  now  ?  " 

"  Now,"  he  answered,  with  a  smile,  "  the 
experiment  has  been  made.  You  have  for- 
tunately broken  with  a  bad  tradition.  In  your 
case,  we  forget  the  official  and  remember  only 
the  friend." 


In  the  course  of  the  three  visits  which  the 
Empress  Elizabeth  paid  to  France  between  1895 
and  1898,  I  had  every  opportunity  of  study- 
ing in  the  intimacy  of  its  daily  life  that  little 
wandering  court  swayed  by  the  melancholy  and 
alluring  figure  of  its  sovereign.  She  led  an 
active  and  solitary  existence.  Rising,  winter  and 
summer,  at  five  o'clock,  she  began  by  taking  a 
warm  bath  in  distilled  water,  followed  by  electric 
massage,  after  which,  even  though  it  were  still 
dark,  she  would  go  out  into  the  air,  without 
informing  her  suite. 

Clad  in  a  black-serge  gown  of  so  simple  a 
character  that  no  well-to-do  tradeswoman  would 
have  cared  to  be  seen  in  it,  laced  boots  and,  on 
her  head,  either  a  plain  black  mantilla  or  a  straw 
hat  also  trimmed  with  black,  she  walked  at  a 
smart  pace  along  the  paths  of  the  garden,  or, 
if  it  were  raining,  perambulated  the  long  passages 
that  run  out  of  the  halls  or  "  lounges  "  of  most 
hotels.  Sometimes,  she  would  venture  on  the 
roads  and  look  for  a  fine  site — by  preference,  the 
6 


THE   EMPRESS   ELIZABETH 

top  of  a  rock — from  which  she  loved  to  watch  the 
sunrise. 

She  returned  at  seven  o'clock  and  breakfasted 
lightly  on  a  cup  of  tea,  with  a  single  biscuit. 
She  then  disappeared  into  her  apartments  and 
devoted  two  hours  to  her  toilet. 

Her  second  meal  was  taken  at  eleven  and 
consisted  of  a  cup  of  clear  soup,  an  egg,  and  one 
or  two  glasses  of  meat- juice,  extracted  every 
morning  from  several  pounds  of  fillet  of  beef 
by  means  of  a  special  apparatus  that  accom- 
panied her  on  her  travels.  She  also  tasted  a 
light  dish  or  two,  with  a  preference  for  sweets. 
Immediately  after  lunch,  she  went  out  again, 
accompanied,  this  time,  by  her  Greek  reader. 

This  Greek  reader  was  a  very  important 
person.  He  formed  one  of  the  suite  on  every 
journey.  Selected  from  among  the  young 
scholars  of  the  University  of  Athens  and  often 
appointed  by  the  Greek  government,  he  was 
changed  year  by  year.  I,  for  my  part,  have 
known  three  different  readers.  Their  duties 
consisted  in  talking  with  the  Empress  in  the 
Greek  language,  ancient  and  modern,  both  of 
which  she  spoke  with  equal  facility. 

This  might  have  seemed  a  quaint  fancy, 
but  it  was  explained  as  soon  as  the  Em- 
press's mental  condition  was  better  known. 
Ever  haunted  by  a  melancholy  past,  romantic 
by  temperament  and  poetic  by  instinct,  she  had 
sought  a  refuge  in  literature  and  the  arts.  Greece 
personified  in  her  imagination  the  land  of  beauty 

7 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

which  her  dreams  incessantly  evoked;  she  had 
a  passionate  love  for  antiquity,  loved  its  artists 
and  its  poets ;  she  wished  to  be  able,  everywhere 
and  at  all  times,  when  the  obsession  of  her 
sad  memories  became  too  intense,  to  escape 
from  the  pitiless  phantoms  that  pursued  her  and, 
in  some  way,  to  isolate  her  thoughts  from  the 
realities  of  life.  The  scholarly  conversation  of 
the  young  Greek  savant  made  this  effort  easier 
for  her;  in  the  varied  and  picturesque  surround- 
ings which  her  aesthetic  tastes  demanded,  she 
took  Homer  and  Plato  for  her  companions;  and 
thus  to  the  delight  of  the  eyes  was  added  the 
most  delicate  satisfaction  of  the  mind. 

The  Greek  reader,  therefore,  was  the  faithful 
companion  of  her  afternoon  walks,  which  lasted 
until  dusk;  and  the  Empress  often  covered  a 
distance  of  fifteen  to  twenty  miles  on  end. 
Dressed  as  in  the  morning  and  always  in  black, 
she  carried,  whatever  the  weather  might  be,  an 
en  cas  and  a  fan.  For  twenty  years,  she  had 
obstinately  refused  to  allow  herself  to  be  photo- 
graphed ;  she  dreaded  the  indiscretion  of  amateur 
photographers;  and  no  sooner  did  she  perceive 
a  camera  aimed  in  her  direction  than  she  quickly 
unfurled  her  black  feather  fan  and  modestly 
concealed  her  features,  leaving  nothing  visible 
but  her  great,  wide,  never-to-be-forgotten  eyes, 
which  still  retained  all  the  splendour  and  fire  of 
youth. 

The  young  Greek's  duties,  however,  were  not 
confined  to  talking  to  the  Empress  on  her  walks. 
8 


THE   EMPRESS   ELIZABETH 

Sometimes  the  reader  would  read.  Carrying  a 
book  which  Her  Imperial  Majesty  had  selected 
beforehand,  he  read  a  few  chapters  to  her  during 
the  rests  by  the  roadside,  on  the  mountain-tops, 
or  at  the  deserted  edge  of  the  sea.  Later,  he 
added  the  daily  budget  of  cuttings  from  the 
newspapers  and  reviews  which  I  prepared  for  her, 
knowing  the  interest  which  she  took  in  the 
current  events  of  the  day. 

He  also  carried  on  his  arm  a  dark  garment,  a 
skirt,  to  be  exact.  The  Empress  had  the  habit, 
in  the  course  of  her  long  walks,  of  changing  the 
skirt  in  which  she  had  started  for  one  made  of  a 
lighter  material.  It  was  a  question  of  health 
and  comfort.  This  little  change  of  attire  was 
effected  in  the  most  primitive  fashion.  The 
Empress  would  disappear  behind  a  rock  or  a 
tree,  while  the  reader,  accustomed  to  this  rapid 
and  discreet  proceeding,  waited  in  the  road, 
taking  care  to  look  the  other  way.  The  Empress 
handed  him  the  skirt  which  she  had  cast  off ;  and 
the  walk  was  resumed. 

On  returning  to  the  hotel,  she  made  a  frugal 
dinner,  consisting  sometimes  merely  of  a  bowl  of 
iced  milk  and  some  raw  eggs  washed  down  with 
a  glass  of  Tokay,  the  whole  forming  an  almost 
savage  dietary  to  which  she  had  forced  herself, 
in  order  to  preserve  the  slimness  of  figure  which 
she  prized  so  highly. 

She  took  all  her  meals  alone,  in  a  private  room, 
and  seldom  passed  the  evening  with  her  suite. 
Its  members  hardly  ever  saw  her;     sometimes 

9 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

the  lady-in-waiting  spent  day  after  day  without 
setting  eyes  on  her  imperial  mistress. 

Of  the  different  places  in  France  which  Her 
Imperial  Majesty  visited,  the  one  which  she  loved 
above  all  others  was  Cap  Martin,  the  promontory 
which  separates  the  Bay  of  Monaco  from  that  of 
Mentone.  She  came  here  for  three  years  in 
succession,  and  returned  to  it  each  time  with 
renewed  pleasure.  The  softness  of  the  climate, 
the  wild  beauty  of  the  views,  the  splendour  of 
the  luxurious  vegetation,  and  the  poetic  solitude 
of  the  pine-forests  and  orange-groves  reminded 
her  of  her  property  of  Achilleon  in  the  island  of 
Corfu  and  of  her  palace  of  Miramar  on  the 
shores  of  the  Adriatic.  She  felt  more  at  ease 
here  than  anywhere  else;  and  here  she  created 
a  charming  home  for  herself.  She  selected  as 
her  residence  the  enormous  hotel  that  stands  at 
the  end  of  the  point,  among  the  tall  pines,  the 
fields  of  rosemary,  the  clusters  of  myrtle  and 
arbutus.  The  building,  intended  for  the  sojourn 
of  princes  and  millionaires,  combined  something  of 
the  palace  with  something  of  the  monastery.  One 
could  imagine,  in  fact,  that  a  sovereign  would 
love  to  have  a  retreat  all  to  himself  in 
that  blue  setting;  and  a  community  of  monks 
also  would  have  been  extraordinarily  happy  in 
that  solitude  made  for  meditation  and  hope. 

The  hotel,  which  had  been  open  to  visitors 
for  only  about  a  year,  was  hardly  known  at  the 
time  when  the  Empress  first  went  there  in  search 
of  retirement  and  repose.  It  was  recommended 
10 


THE    EMPRESS   ELIZABETH 

to  her  by  the  Empress  Eugenie,  who  had  stayed 
there  while  the  Villa  Cyrnos  was  being  built; 
the  poor  Tsarevitch  George,  who  was  already 
attacked  by  the  illness  of  which  he  was  to  die, 
had  also  lived  in  it  for  a  short  time. 

The  Empress  Elizabeth  occupied  the  ground- 
floor  of  the  right  wing,  where  she  had  a  suite  of 
six  rooms  on  a  corridor  separated  by  a  heavy 
red-velvet  hanging  from  the  public  lounge.  The 
windows  opened  on  a  terrace  from  which  the 
eye  took  in  the  wonderful  view  extending  from 
the  picturesque  houses  rising  in  stages  on  the 
peninsula  of  Monaco  to  the  verdant  point  of 
Bordighera,  strewn  with  bright-coloured  villas. 
Beyond  the  sunny  coast-line  and  its  rocky 
rampart,  the  immensity  of  the  sea  stretched  its 
blue  expanse,  bathed  in  radiant  light  and  covered 
with  fleeting  white  sails,  which  the  Empress  loved 
to  follow  with  her  gaze  until  they  disappeared 
below  the  horizon. 

The  furniture  of  the  imperial  apartments  was 
marked  by  extreme  simplicity  combined  with 
perfect  taste,  most  of  the  pieces  being  of  English 
workmanship.  Her  bedroom  was  just  the 
ordinary  hotel  bedroom,  with  a  brass  bedstead 
surmounted  by  a  mosquito-net,  a  mahogany 
dressing-table,  and  a  few  etchings  hanging  on  the 
walls.  On  the  other  hand,  the  management 
had  placed  beside  the  bed,  at  her  request,  a 
set  of  electric  bell-pushes  distinguished  by  their 
colours — white,  yellow,  green  and  blue — which 
enabled  her  to  summon  that  person  of  her  suite 

11 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

whose  presence  she  required,  without  having  to 
disturb  the  others.  She  made  it  a  rule  to  give 
as  httle  trouble  as  possible;  and,  when,  by 
chance,  she  had  a  request  to  make  of  one  of  the 
strange  servants,  she  never  addressed  them  but 
in  terms  of  the  most  exquisite  politeness.  This 
happened  but  rarely,  for  her  service  was  per- 
formed exclusively  by  her  own  two  women,  Frau 
von  Feifalick  and  Fraulein  von  Meissel. 

She  was  not  at  all  difficult  to  please,  although  she 
certainly  drove  her  love  of  cleanliness  to  an  extreme 
pitch.  In  particular,  she  could  not  bear  to  have 
water,  even  for  the  purpose  of  her  toilet,  brought 
to  her  in  any  other  vessel  than  glass-stoppered 
bottles.  Her  homeliness,  it  is  true,  proceeded 
less  from  an  innate  taste  than  from  the  severe 
discipline  which  she  exercised  over  her  habits. 
Thus  she  never  slept  on  any  but  a  hard  mattress, 
a  fact  which  one  would  have  scarcely  suspected 
from  the  aristocratic  daintiness  of  her  person. 

In  addition  to  the  ground-floor,  one  other  room 
was  reserved  for  her  on  every  Sunday  during  her 
visits.  This  was  the  billiard-room,  which,  on 
that  day,  was  transformed  into  a  chapel.  When 
the  Empress  came  to  the  Cap  Martin  Hotel  for 
the  first  time,  she  enquired  after  a  church,  for 
she  was  very  religious.  There  was  none  in  the 
immediate  neighbourhood  :  to  hear  mass,  one 
had  to  go  to  the  village  of  Roquebrune,  the 
parish  to  which  Cap  Martin  belongs.  The 
Empress  then  decided  to  improvise  a  chapel  in 
the  hotel  itself,  and,  for  this  purpose,  selected  the 
12 


THE   EMPRESS   ELIZABETH 

billiard-room,  to  which  she  could  repair  without 
attracting  attention.  But  the  rites  of  the  Church 
require  that  every  room  in  which  mass  is  said 
should  first  be  consecrated;  and  none  save  the 
bishop  of  the  diocese  is  qualified  to  perform 
the  consecration.  A  ceremony  of  this  kind 
in  an  hotel  billiard-room  would  have  been 
rather  embarrassing.  The  difficulty  was  over- 
come in  a  curious  and  unexpected  manner. 
There  is  an  old  rule  by  virtue  of  which  the  great 
dignitaries  of  the  religious  Order  of  Malta  enjoy 
the  privilege  of  consecrating  any  room  in  which 
they  drop  their  cloak.  It  was  remembered  that 
General  von  Berzeviczy,  the  Empress's  chamber- 
lain, occupied  one  of  the  highest  ranks  in  the  knight- 
hood of  Malta.  He  was,  therefore,  asked  to  drop 
his  cloak  in  the  billiard-room.  Thenceforward, 
every  Sunday  morning,  the  Empress's  footman 
put  up  a  portable  altar  in  front  of  the  tall  oak 
chimney-piece;  he  arranged  a  number  of  gilt 
chairs  before  it;  and  the  old  rector  of  Roque- 
brune  came  and  said  mass,  served  by  a  little 
acolyte,  to  whom  the  lady-in-waiting  handed  a 
gold  coin  when  he  went  away. 

The  Empress,  in  fact,  was  extremely  generous ; 
and  her  generosity  adopted  the  most  delicate 
forms.  Herself  so  sad,  she  wished  to  see  none 
but  happy  faces  about  her.  And  so  she 
always  distributed  lavish  gratuities  to  all  who 
served  her;  and  she  succoured  all  the  poor  of 
the  country-side.  Whenever,  in  the  course  of 
her  walks,  she  saw  some  humble  cottage  hidden 

13 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

in  the  mountain  among  the  olive-trees,  she 
entered  it,  talked  to  the  peasants,  took  the  little 
children  on  her  knees,  and,  as  she  feared  lest  the 
sudden  offer  of  a  sum  of  money  might  offend 
those  whom  she  was  anxious  to  assist,  she 
employed  the  most  charming  subterfuges.  She 
would  ask  leave  to  taste  their  fruit,  paying  for  it 
royally  ...  or  else  buying  several  quarts  of  milk, 
or  dozens  of  eggs,  which  she  would  tell  them  to 
bring  to  the  hotel  next  day.  The  good  people 
were  not  aware  of  their  customer's  station  :  they 
took  her  for  a  rich  foreigner  who  had  had  troubles 
of  her  own  and  who  felt  for  the  poverty  of  others ; 
and  often,  at  break  of  day,  some  of  them  would 
come  down  from  the  mountain  with  bunches  of 
wild  flowers,  which  they  handed  to  the  porter  of 
the  hotel  for  "  the  lady  in  black." 

She  ended,  of  course,  by  knowing  all  the  walks 
at  Cap  Martin  and  the  neighbourhood.  She 
set  out  each  morning  with  her  faithful  tramping- 
companion,  the  Greek  reader.  Sometimes  she 
would  go  along  the  rocks  on  the  shore,  sometimes 
wend  her  way  through  the  woods,  sometimes  she 
would  climb  the  steep  hills,  scrambling  "  up  to 
the  goats,"  as  the  herds  say.  She  never  men- 
tioned the  destination  or  the  direction  of  her 
excursions,  a  thing  which  troubled  me  greatly, 
notwithstanding  that  I  had  had  the  whole 
district  searched  and  explored  beforehand.  How 
was  I  to  look  after  her  ? 

"  Set  your  mind  at  rest,  my  dear  M.  Paoli," 
she  used  to  say,  laughing.  "  Nothing  will  happen 
14 


THE   EMPRESS   ELIZABETH 

to  me  :  what  would  you  have  them  do  to  a  poor 
woman  ?  Besides,  not  one  of  us  is  more  than 
the  petal  of  a  poppy,  or  a  ripple  on  the  water  !  " 

Nevertheless,  I  was  far  from  easy,  the  more  so  as 
she  obstinately  refused  to  let  one  of  my  men  follow 
her,  even  at  a  distance.  One  evening,  however, 
having  heard  that  some  Italian  navvies,  who  were 
at  work  on  the  Mentone  Road,  had  spoken  in 
threatening  terms  of  the  crowned  heads  who  are 
in  the  habit  of  visiting  that  part  of  the  country, 
I  begged  the  Empress  to  be  pleased  not  to  go  in 
that  direction  and  was  promptly  snubbed  for  my 
pains  : 

"  More  of  your  fears  !  "  she  replied.  "  I 
repeat,  I  am  not  afraid  of  them  .  .  .  and  I  make  no 
promise." 

I  was  determined.  I  redoubled  my  super- 
vision and  resolved  to  send  one  of  my  Corsican 
detectives,  fully  armed,  disguised  and  got  up 
as  a  navvy,  with  instructions  to  mix  with  the 
Italians  who  were  breaking  stones  on  the  road. 
He  rigged  himself  out  in  a  canvas  jacket  and 
a  pair  of  corduroy  trousers,  and  made  up  his 
face  to  perfection.  Speaking  Italian  fluently,  he 
diverted  all  suspicion  on  the  part  of  his  mates, 
who  took  him  for  a  newly-arrived  fellow-country- 
man of  their  own. 

He  was  there,  lynx-eyed,  with  ears  pricked  up, 
doing  his  best  to  break  a  few  stones,  when 
suddenly  a  figure  which  he  at  once  recognized 
appeared  at  a  turn  in  the  road.  The  night  was 
beginning  to  fall  :   the  Empress,  accompanied  by 

15 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

her  reader,  was  on  her  way  back  to  Cap  Martin. 
Bending  over  his  heap  of  stones,  the  sham  navvy 
waited  rather  anxiously.  When  the  Empress 
reached  the  group  of  road-menders,  she  stopped, 
hesitated  a  moment  and  then,  noticing  my  man, 
doubtless  because  he  looked  the  oldest,  she  went 
up  to  him  and  said,  kindly  : 

"  Is  that  hard  work  you're  doing,   my  good 
man  ?  " 

Not  daring  to  raise  his  head,  he  stammered  a 
few  words  in  Italian. 

"  Don't  you  speak  French  ?  " 
"  No,  signora.''' 
"  Have  you  any  children  ?  " 
''  Si,  signora.'^ 

'*  Then  take  this  for  them,"  slipping  a  louis 
into  his  hand.     "  Tell  them  that  it  comes  from  a 
lady  who  is  very  fond  of  children." 
And  the  Empress  walked  away. 
That  same  evening,  seeing  me  at  the  hotel,  she 
came  up  to  me  with  laughing  eyes  : 

"  Well,  M.  Paoli,  you  may  scold  me,  if  you  like. 
I  have  been  disobedient.  I  went  along  the 
Mentone  Road  to-day  and  I  talked  to  a  navvy." 
It  was  my  faithful  Corsican. 
Sometimes,  she  ventured  beyond  the  radius 
of  her  usual  walks.  For  instance,  one  afternoon, 
she  sent  for  me  on  returning  from  a  morning 
excursion  : 

"  M.  Paoli,  you  must  be  my  escort  to-day. 
You  shall  take  me  to  the  Casino  at  Monte  Carlo  : 
I  have  never  been  there.  I  must  really,  for 
16 


THE   EMPRESS   ELIZABETH 

once  in  my  life,  see  what  a  gambling-room  is 
like." 

Off  we  went  :  the  Empress,  Countess  Sztaray 
and  I.  It  was  decided  that  we  should  go 
by  train.  We  climbed  into  a  first-class  carriage 
in  which  two  English  ladies  were  already  seated. 
The  Empress,  thoroughly  enjoying  her  incognito, 
sat  down  beside  them.  At  Monte  Carlo,  we 
made  straight  for  the  Casino  and  walked  into 
the  roulette-room.  The  august  visitor,  who 
had  slipped  through  the  crowd  of  punters  leaning 
over  the  tables,  followed  each  roll  of  the  ball  with 
her  eyes,  looking  as  pleased  and  astonished  as 
a  child  with  a  new  toy.  Suddenly  she  took  a 
five-franc  piece  from  her  hand-bag  : 

"  Let  me  see  if  I  have  any  luck,"  she  said  to  us. 
"  I  believe  in  number  33." 

She  put  the  big  coin  on  number  33  en  plein.  At 
the  first  spin  of  the  wheel,  it  lost.  She  put  on 
another  and  lost  again.  The  third  time,  number 
33  turned  up.  The  croupier  pushed  175  francs 
across  to  her  with  his  rake.  She  gathered  it  up 
and  then,  turning  gaily  to  us,  said  : 

"  Let  us  go  away  quickly.  I  have  never  made 
so  much  money  in  my  life." 

And  she  dragged  us  from  the  Casino. 

Whenever    she    went    to    Monte     Carlo,    she 

always  took  tea  at  Rumpelmayer's,  the  famous 

Viennese  confectioner's,   for,   as  I  have  already 

hinted,    she    adored    pastry    and    sweets.     The 

Rumpelmayer  establishments  at    Mentone,  Nice 

and  Monte  Carlo  were  well  aware  of  the  identity 
c  17 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

of  this  regular  customer ;  but  she  had  asked  them 
not  to  betray  her  incognito.  When  there  were 
many  people  in  the  shop,  she  would  sit  down  at  a 
little  table  near  the  counter;  and  nobody  would 
have  suspected  that  the  simple,  comely  lady  in 
black,  who  talked  so  familiarly  with  the  girls  in 
the  pay-box  and  at  the  counter,  was  none  other 
than  Elizabeth  Empress  of  Austria,  Queen  of 
Hungary. 

At  other  times,  she  would  walk  out  on  the 
pretty  Beaulieu  Road,  edged  with  villas  whose 
flower-gardens  were  a  subject  of  perpetual  delight 
to  her.  Here  she  was  constantly  followed  by 
those  little  curly-haired  Italian  boys  who  go  about 
selling  plaster  statuettes.  The  sight  of  them 
moved  her  compassionate  heart  to  pity : 

"  They  are  unhappy  before  their  time,"  she 
would  explain,  as  though  in  self -excuse.  "  Why 
not  give  them  a  trifling  pleasure,  when  it  costs  so 
little  ?  " 

And  she  always  bought  their  wares.  The 
small  Italians,  of  course,  were  overjoyed  at  this 
windfall,  all  the  more  as  they  were  allowed  to  keep 
their  statuettes,  which  they  hastened  to  dispose 
of  anew. 

She  also  often  went  to  Nice.  Nevertheless, 
she  preferred  to  the  frequented  roads  those  steep 
and  secluded  paths  which  clamber  up  the  heights. 
Just  at  the  back  of  Monte  Carlo  stands  a  very 
precipitous  mountain  of  rocks  :  it  is  crowned  by 
a  fort  of  the  first  importance,  known  as  the  Fort 
de  Mont-Angel  and  overlooking  the  long  chain 
18 


THE   EMPRESS   ELIZABETH 

of  the  Alps.  It  is  reached  by  a  road  seven  miles 
long,  built  by  the  corps  of  engineers,  and  affords 
a  glorious  view  of  the  mountains  and  the  sea. 

One  day,  the  Empress  said  to  me  : 

"  May  we  visit  the  fort  ?  I  should  like  to  see 
it.  If  you  will  do  what  is  necessary,  we  will  go 
there  the  day  after  to-morrow." 

Admission  to  the  fort  was  prohibited  to  the 
public.  I  therefore  informed  General  Gebhardt, 
at  that  time  Governor  of  Nice,  of  Her  Majesty's 
wishes.  The  general,  anxious  to  be  polite,  not 
only  hastened  to  give  the  desired  authorization, 
but  sent  orders  to  Captain  Giacobbi,  commanding 
the  fort,  to  look  out  for  the  Empress's  arrival, 
so  that  he  might  show  her  round. 

Unfortunately,  the  Empress  forgot  her  inten- 
tion. The  poor  captain  dared  not  leave  his  fort, 
as  he  expected  to  see  her  arrive  at  any  moment. 
Days  passed,  days  and  weeks.  His  wife  and 
children,  who  lived  at  Nice,  were  heart-broken 
at  never  seeing  him.  At  the  end  of  two  months, 
unable  to  bear  the  separation  any  longer,  he 
wrote  and  told  me  of  his  unhappy  position.  I 
decided  to  mention  the  matter  to  the  Empress. 
Deeply  distressed,  she  told  the  Emperor,  who  had 
just  arrived.  He  at  once  asked  General  Geb- 
hardt to  countermand  the  captain's  orders,  and 
sent  him  the  Cross  of  Francis  Joseph  by  way  of 
compensation. 


C2  19 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 


The  Emperor  joined  the  Empress  on  three 
occasions  during  her  visits  to  Cap  Martin.  The 
event  naturally  created  a  diversion  in  the  mono- 
tony of  our  sojourn.  Though  travelling  in- 
cognito as  Count  Hohenembs,  he  was  accompanied 
by  a  fairly  numerous  suite,  whose  presence 
added  great  animation  to  our  little  colony. 
I  had,  of  course,  to  redouble  my  measures  of 
protection  and  to  send  to  Paris  for  an  additional 
force  of  detective-inspectors.  A  telegraphic 
apparatus  was  installed  at  the  hotel,  to  enable  the 
sovereign  to  communicate  direct  with  Vienna; 
and  a  gang  of  upholsterers  busied  themselves  with 
decorating  the  apartments  destined  for  his  use 
and  situated  above  those  of  the  Empress. 

Francis  Joseph  generally  spent  a  fortnight  with 
his  consort.  I  thus  had  the  opportunity  of  observ- 
ing the  touching  affection  which  they  displayed 
towards  each  other,  notwithstanding  the  gossip  of 
which  certain  sections  of  the  press  have  made 
themselves  the  complacent  echo.  Nothing  could 
be  simpler  or  more  charming  than  their  meetings. 
As  soon  as  the  train  stopped  at  Mentone  Station, 
where  the  Empress  went  to  wait  its  arrival, 
accompanied  by  her  whole  suite,  in  addition  to  the 
Austrian  Consul,  the  Prefect  of  the  Alpes-Mari- 
times,  the  Mayor  of  Mentone  and  myself,  the 
Emperor  sprang  lightly  to  the  platform  and 
hastened,  bare-headed,  to  the  Empress,  whom  he 
kissed  on  both  cheeks.  His  expressive  face, 
20 


THE   EMPRESS   ELIZABETH 

framed  in  white  whiskers,  Ht  up  with  a  kindly 
smile.  He  tucked  the  Empress's  arm  under  his 
own  and,  with  exquisite  politeness,  addressed  a 
few  gracious  words  to  each  of  us  individually. 

During  the  Emperor's  stay,  the  Empress 
emerged  for  a  little  while  from  her  state  of  timid 
isolation.  They  walked  or  drove  together,  and 
received  visits  from  the  princes  staying  on  the 
Cote  d'Azur  or  passing  through,  notably  Edward 
VII.,  then  Prince  of  Wales,  the  Archduke  Regnier, 
the  then  Tsarevitch,  the  Prince  of  Monaco,  the 
King  and  Q.ueen  of  Saxony,  and  the  Grand-duke 
Michael.  Sometimes  they  would  call  on  the  late 
Queen  of  England,  at  that  time  installed  at  Cimiez, 
or  on  the  Empress  Eugenie,  their  next  neighbour. 
It  was  like  a  miniature  copy  of  the  court  of 
Vienna,  transferred  to  Cap  Martin. 

Francis  Joseph,  faithful  to  his  habits,  rose  at 
five  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  worked  with  his 
secretaries.  At  half-past  six,  he  stopped  to  take 
a  cup  of  coffee,  and  then  closeted  himself  once 
more  in  his  study  until  ten.  The  wires  were  kept 
working  almost  incessantly  between  Cap  Martin 
and  Vienna  :  as  many  as  eighty  telegrams  have 
been  known  to  be  dispatched  and  received  in  the 
course  of  a  single  morning.  From  ten  to  twelve, 
the  Emperor  strolled  in  the  gardens  with  the 
Empress.  Seen  from  a  distance,  they  might 
have  been  taken  for  a  honeymoon  couple,  so 
young  did  they  both  appear  :  she  willowy,  dainty 
and  fragile;  he  thin,  brisk  and  elegant,  having 
retained  the  youthful  figure  of  a  cavalry  subaltern, 

21 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

which  was  accentuated  by  the  cut  of  his  blue- 
serge  suit  and  his  knack  of  perching  his  black-felt 
hat  a  little  on  one  ear. 

The  Empress  usually  lunched  alone,  on  account  of 
her  special  diet ;  on  the  other  hand,  she  often  dined 
at  the  imperial  table.  The  dinners  were  marked 
by  a  certain  amount  of  formality.  The  Emperor 
and  the  members  of  his  suite  sat  down  in  evening- 
dress  and  decorations;  the  ladies  in  low-necked 
gowns.  Francis  Joseph  drank  nothing  but  dark 
lager  beer,  and,  after  dinner,  lit  a  cigarette  in  a 
paper  holder,  which  he  subsequently  threw  away. 
On  rising  from  table,  the  Emperor  and  Empress 
held  a  circle  for  a  few  minutes  and  then 
retired  to  their  apartments.  The  two  suites,  on 
the  other  hand,  stayed  behind  to  chat;  and,  in 
this  cosmopolitan  frame  provided  by  the  hotel 
lounge,  we  were  given  a  picture  of  the  imperial 
ante-rooms  at  Schonbrunn.  Groups  formed 
among  the  wicker  tea-tables  and  rocking-chairs. 
Here,  Prince  Lichtenstein,  master  of  the  horse,  and 
Count  Paar,  principal  aide-de-camp,  laughed  and 
talked  with  the  ever-charming  Baroness  Miczi 
Sennyey,  one  of  the  prettiest  women  at  the  court 
of  Vienna.  A  little  farther,  General  von  Berzeviczy 
sat  talking  with  Dr.  Kerzl,  the  Emperor's  physi- 
cian, while,  near  them.  Countess  Emsidel  chatted 
with  Chevalier  Claudi,  the  travelling  equerry,  and 
Baron  Weber  von  Ebenhoff  and  Baron  Braun,  the 
Emperor's  private  secretaries. 

Francis  Joseph  often  had  General  Gebhardt, 
the  Governor  of  Nice,  to  dinner,  and  generally 
22 


THE   EMPRESS   ELIZABETH 

took  a  keen  interest  in  military  affairs.  When 
he  went  to  Mentone  to  return  the  visit  which 
President  Faure  had  paid  him  at  Cap  Martin,  the 
French  government  sent  a  regiment  of  cuiras- 
siers from  Lyons  to  salute  him.  The  Emperor, 
struck  by  the  men's  fine  bearing,  reviewed  them 
and  watched  them  march  past. 

It  also  occurred  to  me,  during  his  stay  in  the 
south  in  the  spring  of  1896,  to  obtain  an  oppor- 
tunity for  His  Imperial  Majesty  to  witness  a 
sham  fight  planned  by  the  87th  battalion  of 
Alpine  chasseurs  on  the  heights  of  Roquebrune. 
The  manoeuvres  opened  one  morning  at  dawn  in  the 
marvellous  circle  of  hills  covered  with  olive-trees 
and  topped  by  the  snowy  summits  of  the  Alps. 
For  two  hours,  the  Emperor  followed  the  incidents 
of  the  fight  with  close  attention,  not  forgetting 
to  congratulate  the  officers  warmly  at  the  finish. 

On  the  next  day,  he  invited  the  officer  in  com- 
mand of  the  battalion,  now  General  Baugillot,  to 
luncheon.  The  major  was  a  gallant  soldier  who 
was  more  accustomed  to  the  language  of  the 
camp  than  to  that  of  courts,  and  he  persisted  in 
addressing  the  Emperor  as  "  Sire  "  and  "  Mon- 
sieur "  by  turns.  Francis  Joseph  smiled  and  was 
greatly  amused.  At  last,  not  knowing  what  to 
do,  the  major  cried  : 

"  I  beg  everybody's  pardon  !  I  am  more  used 
to  mess-rooms  than  to  drawing-rooms  !  " 

The  Emperor  at  once  replied  : 

"  Call  me  whatever  you  please.  I  much  prefer 
a  soldier  to  a  courtier." 

23 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

Francis  Joseph,  especially  in  his  relations  with 
women,  possessed  an  exquisite  and  delicate 
courtesy  that  seemed  to  belong  to  a  former 
century.  After  his  last  stay  with  the  Empress  at 
Cap  Martin,  they  were  both  departing  on  the  same 
day,  he  returning  to  Vienna,  where  urgent  affairs 
of  State  required  his  presence,  she  going  to  Corfu, 
where  she  was  called  by  her  eternal  longing  for 
the  land  of  the  sun.  They  left  the  hotel  together. 
The  carriage  taking  them  to  the  station  was  passing 
through  the  pines,  when,  suddenly,  at  a  bend  in 
the  road,  outlined  against  the  green  background 
of  a  palm-tree,  appeared  the  figure  of  a  woman  in 
mourning,  standing  very  upright  under  her  white 
hair  and  still  showing  traces  of  sovereign  beauty  in 
the  refinement  of  her  features  and  the  dignity  of 
her  stature.  Leaning  on  her  gold-knobbed 
cane,  she  seemed  to  be  waiting  for  them;  in 
fact,  she  made  a  sign  to  them.  The  Emperor 
at  once  alighted  from  the  carriage  with  the 
Empress,  took  off  his  hat  and,  bowing  very 
low,  kissed  the  lady's  hand.  Then  they  talked, 
as  they  took  a  few  steps  in  the  heather.  But 
time  was  passing;  it  was  necessary  to  drive  on. 
The  Empress  thereupon  kissed  her  with  every 
mark  of  respectful  affection ;  the  Emperor,  greatly 
moved,  once  more  made  her  a  very  deep  bow. 
And  the  carriage  drove  off  at  a  brisk  trot  with  the 
august  travellers,  while  the  stately  lady  stood 
leaning  on  her  tall  stick  and  followed  them  with 
her  eyes  until  they  disappeared  from  sight. 

They  had  taken  leave  of  the  Empress  Eugenie, 
24 


THE    EMPRESS   ELIZABETH 

who  little  suspected  that  in  the  Empress  Eliza- 
beth's kiss  there  lay  a  last  farewell. 


Cap  Martin  and  Aix  were  not  the  only  places 
visited  by  the  Empress  of  Austria.  In  the 
autumn  of  1896,  she  was  curious  to  see  Biarritz ; 
she  returned  there  in  the  following  year,  when  I 
again  had  the  honour  of  accompanying  her.  The 
inclemency  of  the  weather  shortened  the  stay 
which  she  had  at  first  intended  to  make ;  and  yet 
the  rough  and  picturesque  poetry  of  the  Basque 
coast  had  an  undoubted  attraction  for  her.  She 
spent  her  days,  sometimes,  on  the  steepest 
points  of  the  rocks,  whence  she  would  watch  the 
tide  for  hours,  often  returning  soaked  through 
with  spray ;  at  other  times,  she  would  roam  about 
the  wild  country  that  stretches  to  the  foot  of  the 
Pyrenees,  talking  to  the  Basque  peasants  and 
interesting  herself  in  their  work. 

She  had  a  mania  for  buying  a  cow  in  every 
country  which  she  visited  for  the  first  time.  She 
chose  it  herself  in  the  course  of  her  walks,  and 
had  it  sent  to  one  of  her  farms  in  Hungary.  As 
soon  as  she  saw  a  cow  the  colour  of  whose  coat 
pleased  her,  she  would  accost  the  peasant,  ask 
the  animal's  price  and  tell  him  to  take  it  to  her 
hotel. 

One  day,  near  Biarritz,  she  saw  a  magnificent 
black  cow,  bought  it  then  and  there,  gave  her 
name  of  Countess  Hohenembs  to  its  owner,  and 

25 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

sent  him  to  the  hotel  with  her  purchase.  When 
he  arrived,  however,  and  asked  for  Countess 
Hohenembs,  the  porter,  who  had  not  been  pre- 
pared, took  him  for  a  madman  and  tried  to 
turn  him  away.  The  peasant  insisted,  explained 
what  had  happened,  and  ended  by  learning  that 
Countess  Hohenembs  was  none  other  than  the 
Empress  of  Austria.  An  Empress  ?  But  then 
he  had  been  cheated  !  And  he  began  to  lament 
and  shout  and  protest  and  lose  his  temper  : 

"  If  I'd  known  it  was  a  queen,"  he  yelled,  "  I'd 
have  asked  more  money  !  I  must  have  a  bigger 
price  !  " 

The  discussion  lasted  for  two  hours,  and  I  had 
to  be  called  in  to  put  a  stop  to  it. 

This  was  not  the  only  amusing  adventure  that 
occurred  during  the  Empress's  stay  at  Biarritz. 
One  day,  returning  from  an  excursion  to  Fuen- 
terrabia,  she  stood  waiting  for  a  train  on  the 
platform  of  the  little  frontier-station  at  Hendaye. 
The  reader,  who  was  with  her,  had  gone  to  ask  a 
question  of  the  station-master.  The  conversa- 
tion seemed  never-ending  and  the  train  arrived. 
The  Empress,  losing  patience,  called  a  porter  : 

"  You  see  that  gentleman  in  black  ?  "  she  said. 
"  Go  and  tell  him  to  hurry,  or  the  train  will  leave 
without  us." 

The  porter  ran  to  the  reader  and  exclaimed  : 

"  Hurry  up,  or  your  wife  will  go  without  you  !  " 

The  Empress,  who  rarely  laughed,  was  much 
amused  at  this  incident. 

The  strange  form  of  neurasthenia  from  which 
26 


THE   EMPRESS   ELIZABETH 

she  suffered,  instead  of  decreasing  with  time, 
seemed  to  become  more  persistent  and  more 
painful  as  the  years  went  on,  and  ended  by 
gradually  impairing  her  health.  Not  that  the 
Empress  had  a  definite  illness  :  she  simply  felt  an 
infinite  lassitude,  a  perpetual  weariness,  against 
which  she  tried  to  struggle,  with  an  uncommon 
amount  of  energy,  by  pursuing  her  active  life  in 
spite  of  it,  her  life  of  wandering  and  her  long  daily 
walks. 

She  hated  medicine,  and  believed  that  a  sane 
and  simple  plan  of  hygiene  was  far  preferable 
to  any  number  of  doctor's  prescriptions.  One 
day,  however,  seeing  her  more  tired  than  usual, 
I  begged  her  permission  to  present  her  with  a  few 
bottles  of  Vin  Mariani,  of  the  restorative  virtues 
of  which  I  had  had  personal  experience. 

"  If  it  gives  you  any  satisfaction,"  she  replied, 
with  a  smile,  "  I  accept.  But  you  must  let  me, 
in  return,  send  you  some  of  our  famous  Tokay, 
which  is  also  a  restorative  and,  moreover,  very 
nice  to  take." 

A  little  while  after.  Count  von  Wolkenstein- 
Trosburg  handed  me,  on  the  part  of  the  Empress, 
a  beautiful  liqueur-case  containing  six  little  bottles 
of  Tokay;  and  I  was  talking  of  drinking  it  after 
my  meals,  like  an  ordinary  dessert-wine,  when  the 
count  said  : 

"  Do  you  know  that  this  is  a  very  valuable 
present  ?  .  .  .  The  wine  comes  direct  from  the 
Emperor's  estates.  To  give  you  an  idea  of  what 
it  is  worth,  I  may  tell  you  that,  recently,  at  a  sale 

27 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

in  Frankfort,  six  small  bottles  fetched  eleven 
thousand  francs.  ...  It  stands  quite  alone." 

I  at  once  ceased  to  treat  it  as  a  common 
Madeira.  The  proprietor  of  the  hotel,  hearing 
of  the  gift  which  I  had  received,  offered  me 
five  thousand  francs  for  the  six  bottles.  I  need 
hardly  say  that  I  refused.  I  have  four  left,  and 
I  am  keeping  them. 

Towards  the  end  of  that  same  year,  1897,  when 
she  was  staying  for  the  second  time  at  Biarritz, 
the  Empress,  feeling  more  restless  and  melan- 
choly than  ever,  resolved  to  go  for  a  cruise  in  the 
Mediterranean  on  board  her  yacht  Miramar. 
But  she  wished  first  to  spend  a  few  days  in  Paris. 

She  had  engaged  a  suite  of  rooms  at  an  hotel 
in  the  Rue  Castiglione,  and  naturally  desired  to 
preserve  the  strictest  incognito.  Still,  it  was 
known  that  she  was  in  Paris;  and  the  protection 
with  which  I  surrounded  her  was  even  more 
rigorous  than  before.  She  was  out  of  doors 
from  morning  till  evening,  went  through  the 
streets  on  foot  to  visit  the  churches,  monuments 
and  museums,  and,  at  four  o'clock,  called  regu- 
larly at  a  dairy  in  the  Rue  de  Surene,  where  she 
was  served  with  a  glass  of  ass's  milk,  her  favourite 
beverage,  after  which  she  returned  to  the  hotel. 

One  day,  however,  we  had  a  great  alarm  :  at 
seven  o'clock  she  was  not  yet  back.  I  anxiously 
sent  to  her  sisters,  the  Queen  of  Naples  and  the 
Countess  of  Trani,  to  whom  she  occasionally 
paid  surprise  visits  :  she  was  not  there.  To 
crown  all,  she  had  succeeded  in  eluding  the  vigil- 
28 


THE   EMPRESS   ELIZABETH 

ance  of  the  inspector  who  was  charged  to  follow 
her  at  a  certain  distance.  We  had  lost  the 
Empress  in  the  midst  of  Paris  !  Picture  our 
mortal  anxiety  ! 

I  was  about  to  set  out  in  person  in  search  of 
her,  when,  suddenly,  we  saw  her  very  calmly 
appearing. 

"  I  have  been  gazing  at  Notre-Dame  by  moon- 
light," she  said.  "  It  was  lovely.  And  I  came 
back  on  foot  along  the  quays.  I  went  among  the 
crowd  and  nobody  took  the  least  notice  of 
me." 

Just  as  at  Biarritz  and  at  Cap  Martin,  she  spent 
her  evenings  alone  and  withdrew  to  her  room  at 
a  very  early  hour.  She  liked  the  members  of 
her  suite,  however,  to  take  advantage  of  the 
leisure  which  she  gave  them  to  amuse  themselves. 

I  remember,  in  this  connection,  that  her  Greek 
reader,  at  that  time  Mr.  Barker,  and  her  secretary, 
Dr.  Kromar,  expressed  a  wish  to  see  something  of 
the  picturesque  and  characteristic  side  of  Paris; 
and  I  took  them  one  evening  to  the  Central 
Markets.  When  we  had  finished  our  visit,  I 
invited  them,  in  accordance  with  the  traditional 
custom, to  come  and  have  a  plate  of  soupe  a  Voignon 
in  one  of  the  little  common  eating-houses  in  the 
neighbourhood.  Delighted  with  this  modest 
banquet,  they  described  their  outing  to  the 
Empress  next  day,  and  sang  the  praises  of  our 
famous  national  broth,  which  she  had  never 
tasted. 

"  M.    Paoli,"    she    said,    enthusiastically,    "  I 

29 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

must  know  what  soupe  a  Voignon  is  like.  Mr. 
Barker  has  given  me  a  most  tantalizing  descrip- 
tion." 

"  Nothing  is  easier,  ma'am :  I  will  tell  the 
people  of  the  hotel  to  make  you  some." 

"  Never  !  They  will  send  me  up  a  carefully 
prepared  soup  which  won't  taste  in  the  least  like 
yours.  And  I  must  have  it  served  in  the  identical 
crockery  :     I  want  all  the  local  colour." 

Here  I  must  make  a  confession  :  as  I  had  it  at 
heart — it  was  a  question  of  patriotism,  no  less 
— that  the  Empress  should  not  be  disappointed, 
I  thought  it  more  prudent  to  apply  to  the  man- 
ager of  the  hotel,  who,  kindly  lending  himself  to 
my  innocent  fraud,  prepared  the  onion  soup  and 
sent  to  the  nearest  bazaar  for  a  plate  and  soup- 
tureen  of  the  ''  local  colour "  in  which  the 
imperial  traveller  took  so  great  an  interest.  The 
illusion  was  perfect.  The  Empress  thought  the 
soup  excellent  and  the  crockery  delightfully 
picturesque  :  true,  we  had  chipped  it  a  little, 
with  that  object  in  view  ! 

The  Empress's  only  visit  to  Paris  was  a  short 
one  :  as  I  have  said,  she  had  decided  that  year  to 
air  her  melancholy  on  the  blue  waters  of  the 
Mediterranean.  The  projected  cruise  embraced 
a  number  of  calls  at  different  harbours  along 
the  Cote  d'Azur ;  and  she  asked  me  to  accompany 
her. 

We  left  Paris  on  the  30th  of  December  for  Mar- 
seilles, where  the  imperial  yacht  lay  waiting  for  us. 
commanded  by  a  very  distinguished  officer,  Captain 
80 


THE   EMPRESS   ELIZABETH 

Moritz  Sacks  von  Bellenau ;  and  we  were  at  sea, 
opposite  the  sinister  Chateau  d'lf,  on  the  1st  of 
January  of  the  year  1898,  which  was  to  prove  so 
tragic  to  EUzabeth  of  Austria.  I  offered  her  my 
wishes  for  happiness  and  a  long  Hfe.  The  Empress 
seemed  to  me  sadder  and  more  thoughtful  that 
morning  than  usual  : 

"  I  wish  you  also,"  she  said,  "  health  and 
happiness,  for  you  and  yours."  And  she  added, 
with  an  expression  of  infinite  bitterness,  "  As 
for  myself,  I  have  no  confidence  left  in  the 
future." 

Had  she  already  received  a  presentiment  of 
what  the  year  held  in  store  for  her  ?  Who  can 
tell? 

She  gave  us  but  little  of  her  society  during  this 
voyage.  She  spent  her  days  on  deck  and  inter- 
ested herself  in  the  silent  activity,  in  the  humble, 
poetic  life  of  the  crew.  The  sailors  entertained 
a  sort  of  veneration  for  her.  They  were  con- 
stantly feeling  the  effects  of  her  discreet  and 
delicate  kindness.  Like  ourselves,  they  respected 
her  melancholy  and  her  love  of  solitude.  And, 
in  the  evenings,  while  the  little  court  collected 
in  the  saloon  and  amused  itself  with  different 
games,  or  else  improvised  a  charming  concert; 
while,  at  the  other  end  of  the  ship,  the  sailors, 
seated  under  the  poop,  sang  their  Tyrolean  or 
Hungarian  songs  to  an  accordion  accompani- 
ment, the  Empress,  all  alone  on  deck,  with  her 
eyes  staring  into  the  distance,  would  dream  of 
the  stars. 

31 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

On  leaving  Marseilles,  we  went  to  Villefranche, 
near  Nice,  skirting  the  coast.  The  Empress  also 
wished  to  stop  at  Cannes  and  to  see  once  more, 
from  the  sea,  Monaco,  Cap  Martin,  Mentone. 
She  next  proposed  to  revisit  Sicily,  Greece  and 
Corfu  :  it  was  as  though  she  felt  a  secret  desire  to 
make  a  sort  of  pilgrimage  to  all  the  ephemeral 
landmarks  which  her  sad  soul  had  erected  in  the 
course  of  her  wandering  life. 

However  enjoyable  this  cruise  might  be  to  me, 
I  had  to  think  of  abandoning  it.  My  service 
with  the  Empress  ended  automatically  as  soon 
as  she  had  left  French  waters. 

"  Stay  on,  nevertheless."  she  said,  kindly. 
"  You  shall  be  my  guest ;  and  I  will  show  you 
my  beautiful  palace  in  Corfu." 

But  my  duties,  unfortunately,  summoned  me 
elsewhere.  I  had  to  return  to  Nice,  to  receive 
the  King  and  Queen  of  Saxony,  who  were  ex- 
pected there.  It  was  decided,  therefore,  that  I 
should  leave  the  Miramar  at  San  Remo.  When 
the  yacht  dropped  her  anchor  outside  the  little 
Italian  town,  I  said  good-bye  to  the  Empress 
and  to  my  charming  travelling  companions. 

"It  is  not  for  long,  for  I  shall  come  back 
to  France,"  said  Elizabeth. 

She  leant  over  the  bulwarks,  as  the  yacht's 
launch  took  me  on  shore,  and  I  watched  her 
delicate  and  careworn  features  first  outlined 
against  the  disc  of  the  setting  sun  and  then 
merging.,  little  by  little,  in  the  distance  and  the 
darkness. 
32 


THE   EMPRESS   ELIZABETH 


Seven  months  had  elapsed  since  the  day  when 
I  left  the  Empress  at  San  Remo.  I  was  in  Paris 
and  read  in  the  papers  that  she  had  just  arrived 
at  Caux,  a  picturesque  little  place  situated  above 
Montreux  and  overlooking  the  Lake  of  Geneva.  I 
hastened  to  write,  on  chance,  to  Mr.  Barker,  her 
Greek  reader,  in  order  to  receive  her  news.  When 
I  came  home,  on  the  evening  of  the  9th  of  Sep- 
tember, I  was  handed  Mr.  Barker's  reply,  which 
ran  as  follows  : — 

"  Caux,  8  September,  1898. 

"  My  Dear  M.  Paoli, 

"  I  was  very  pleased  to  receive  your  valued 
letter  of  the  6th  instant,  for  which  accept  my 
best  thanks. 

"  Her  Majesty  proposes  to  spend  the  month 
of  September  at  Caux,  but  I  do  not  know  what 
Her  Majesty  will  do  after  that.  Her  Majesty 
commands  me  to  say  that  she  will  be  happy  to 
see  you  here  if  your  business  should  bring  you  to 
Geneva.  At  the  same  time.  Her  Majesty  sends 
you  her  best  greetings.  Her  Majesty  intends  to 
go  to  Nice  (Cimiez)  on  the  1st  of  December,  and 
she  hopes  that  the  ministry  will  attach  you  to  her 
person. 

"  I  must  now  thank  you  for  all  the  news  which 
you  have  given  me  about  yourself.  As  for  me, 
I  am  very  well  and  am  enjoying  our  stay  at  Caux. 
D  33 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

"  Her  Majesty  leaves  to-morrow  for  Geneva, 
where  she  will  spend  two  days.  Countess  Sztaray 
is  going  with  Her  Majesty.  Dr.  Kromar  left 
yesterday,  to  take  rooms  for  Her  Majesty  at  the 
Hotel  Beau  Rivage. 

"  Field-marshal  von  Berzeviczy  remains  with 
me  at   Caux. 

"  I  do  not  know  whether  I  wrote  to  you  that  the 
general  was  created  a  field-marshal  some  time 
ago. 

"  Pray  remember  me  very  kindly  to  your  son, 
and  believe  me, 

"  dear  M.  Paoli, 

"  yours  most  sincerely, 

"  Frederic  G.  Barker." 

The  Empress  was  to  spend  forty-eight  hours  at 
Geneva.  As  I  was  on  leave  and  had  nothing  to 
keep  me  in  Paris,  why  should  I  not  go  and  pay 
my  respects  to  the  august  lady  who  had  so 
kindly  expressed  the  hope  of  seeing  me  again  ? 
I  at  once  made  up  my  mind  and,  the  next  morning, 
took  the  train  for  Geneva.  I  calculated  that, 
arriving  in  the  evening,  I  had  a  chance  of  still 
finding  the  Empress  at  the  Hotel  Beau  Rivage; 
besides,  nothing  need  prevent  me  from  going, 
next  day,  to  Caux,  where  I  was  sure  to  see  her 
and,  at  the  same  time,  to  have  an  opportunity 
of  shaking  hands  with  Field-marshal  von  Berze- 
viczy and  Mr.  Barker.  Who  would  have  thought 
that  the  train  which  carried  me  through  the  plains 
of  Burgundy  and  Franche-Comte  was  taking  me 
34 


THE   EMPRESS   ELIZABETH 

straight  to  the  scene  of  a  sad  and  blood-stained 
tragedy  ? 

When  we  drew  into  the  station  at  Geneva,  I 
noticed  an  unwonted  animation  on  the  plat- 
forms :  groups  of  people  stood  engaged  in  excited 
discussion,  with  a  look  of  consternation  on  their 
faces.  I  paid  no  particular  attention,  however, 
for  I  was  in  a  hurry.  I  hailed  a  fly  and  told 
the  man  to  drive  to  the  Hotel  Beau  Rivage. 
We  had  not  gone  twenty  yards,  when  he  turned 
round  on  his  box : 

"  What  an  awful  crime  !  "  he  said. 

"  What  crime  ?  " 

"  Haven't  you  heard  ?  The  Empress  was 
assassinated  this  afternoon." 

"  Assassinated  !  " 

Livid  and  scared,  I  could  hardly  listen  to  the 
pitiful  story  of  the  tragedy.  The  Empress,  it 
seemed,  had  been  stabbed  to  the  heart  by  an 
Italian  anarchist,  when  about  to  embark  on  the 
1.40  steamer  for  Territet;  she  sank  down  on  the 
Quai  du  Mont-Blanc;  the  people  around  her 
thought  that  she  had  fainted  and  carried  her  on 
board  the  boat :  when  they  bent  over  her,  she 
was  dead. 

Dead  !  It  was  true,  it  was  really  true ;  if  not, 
what  was  that  great  silent,  motionless  crowd 
doing  on  the  Place  Brunswick  ?  The  crowd  was 
innumerable,  increased  incessantly  during  the 
night  and  kept  its  eyes  fixed  unweariedly  upon 
two  windows  with  closed  shutters.  I  sprang 
quickly  from  the  carriage,  when   it   stopped   at 

D2  35 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

the  hotel,  rushed  into  the  hall,  which  was  full  of 
people,  flew  up  the  crowded  staircase  and  along  a 
corridor  in  which  English,  German  and  Russian 
travellers  were  hustling  one  another,  with  scared 
faces,  all  anxious  to  see.  At  last,  catching  sight 
of  a  servant  : 

"  Countess  Sztaray  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  In  there,"  he  replied,  pointing  to  a  door 
standing  ajar. 

I  knocked,  the  door  opened  and  Countess 
Sztaray,  red-eyed,  her  features  distorted  with 
grief,  gave  me  a  heart-broken  look  and,  with  a 
sob,  said  : 

"  Our  poor  Empress  !  " 

"  Where  is  she  ?  " 

"  Come  with  me." 

Taking  me  by  the  hand,  she  led  me  and  Field- 
marshal  von  Berzeviczy,  who  had  just  arrived, 
to  the  next  room.  There  lay  the  Empress,  stiff 
and  already  cold,  stretched  on  a  little  brass 
bed  under  a  thin  white-gauze  veil.  Her  face,  lit 
by  the  flickering  flame  of  two  tall  candles, 
showed  no  trace  of  suffering.  A  sad  smile 
seemed  still  to  hover  over  her  pale  and  lightly- 
parted  lips;  two  long  tresses  fell  upon  her  slim 
shoulders;  the  delicate  features  of  her  face  had 
shrunk;  two  purple  shadows  under  her  eyelids 
threw  into  relief  the  sharp  outline  of  her  nose 
and  the  pallor  of  her  cheeks.  She  appeared  as 
though  sleeping  peacefully  and  happily.  Her 
tiny  hands  were  crossed  over  an  ivory  crucifix; 
some  roses,  now  almost  withered — roses  which 
36 


THE   EMPRESS   ELIZABETH 

she  had  picked  that  morning  and  which  she 
was  carrying  in  her  arms  when  she  received 
her  death-blow — lay  scattered  at  her  feet. 

I  stood  long  contemplating  the  corpse.  My 
self-possession  deserted  me.  In  spite  of  myself, 
the  tears  came  to  my  eyes  and  I  cried  like  a 
child. 

Why  had  fate  decreed  that  the  Empress  should 
go  to  Geneva  ?  Curiously  enough,  the  idea  came 
to  her  suddenly,  it  appeared,  on  Thursday  the  8th 
of  September.  She  had  arranged  to  pay  a  visit 
to  her  friend,  Baronne  Adolphe  de  Rothschild, 
who  was  staying  at  her  country-house,  the 
Chateau  de  Pregny,  at  the  western  end  of  the 
lake.  But  it  was  a  long  excursion  to  make  in  a 
single  day;  and  the  Empress,  contrary  to  the 
advice  of  Countess  Sztaray,  decided  to  sleep  at 
Geneva,  after  leaving  Pregny,  and  not  to  return 
to  Caux  until  the  following  afternoon.  She 
arrived  at  the  Hotel  Beau  Rivage  in  the  evening 
and  went  out  after  dinner.  She  was  up,  next 
day,  at  five  o'clock.  After  occupying  a  portion 
of  her  morning  with  the  complicated  cares  of 
her  toilet  and  her  correspondence,  she  went  for  a 
walk  along  the  shady  quays  of  the  Rhone. 
Returning  to  the  hotel  at  one  o'clock,  she  hur- 
riedly drank  a  glass  of  milk.  Then,  accom- 
panied by  her  lady-in-waiting,  Countess  Sztaray, 
she  hastened  down  to  the  steamboat-pier,  in- 
tending to  take  the  Territet  boat  that  started  at 
1.40.     She   had    come   to    within    two    hundred 

87 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

yards  of  the  foot-plank  connecting  the  steamer 
with  the  Quai  du  Mont-Blanc,  when  Lucchini 
flung  himself  upon  her  and  struck  her  a  blow 
under  the  left  breast  with  a  three-cornered  file 
clumsily  fitted  to  a  wooden  handle.  The  violence 
of  the  blow  broke  her  fourth  rib. 

Death  was  not  instantaneous.  She  had  the 
strength  to  walk  as  far  as  the  boat ;  and  for  this 
reason  :  the  instrument,  in  its  course,  had  pierced 
the  left  ventricle  of  the  heart  from  top  to  bottom. 
But,  the  blade  being  very  sharp  and  very  thin, 
the  hemorrhage  at  first  was  almost  insignificant. 
The  drops  of  blood  escaped  but  slowly  from  the 
heart  and  its  action  was  not  impaired  so  long  as 
the  pericardium,  in  which  the  drops  were  collect- 
ing, was  not  full.  This  was  how  she  was  able  to 
go  a  fairly  long  distance  on  foot  with  a  stab  in 
her  heart.  When  the  bleeding  increased,  the 
Empress  sank  to  the  deck.  Had  the  weapon 
remained  in  the  wound,  she  could  have  lived 
longer  still.  The  Due  de  Berry,  who  was  stabbed 
in  exactly  the  same  manner  as  the  Empress, 
lived  for  four  hours,  because  Louvel  did  not 
draw  the  dagger  from  the  wound. 

The  poor  Empress,  therefore,  had  the  energy 
to  drag  herself  to  the  boat,  where  a  band  of 
gipsies  was  playing  Hungarian  dances  (a  cruel 
irony  of  chance)  while  the  steamer  began  to 
move  away  from  the  landing-stage.  At  that 
moment,  she  fainted.  Countess  Sztaray,  who 
believed  her  to  be  stunned  by  a  blow  of  the  fist — 
for  no  one  had  seen  the  weapon  in  the  assassin's 
38 


THE   EMPRESS   ELIZABETH 

hand — tried  to  bring  her  to  with  smelUng-salts. 
The  Empress  recovered  consciousness,  spoke 
a  few  words,  cast  a  long  look  of  bewildered 
astonishment  around  her  and  then,  suddenly, 
fell  back  dead.  The  dismay  and  excitement 
were  intense.  The  boat  at  once  put  back  to  the 
pier;  and,  as  there  was  no  litter  at  hand,  the 
body  was  carried  to  the  hotel,  shrouded  in  sails, 
on  an  improvised  bier  of  crossed  oars. 

Had  the  Empress  received  a  presentiment  of 
her  tragic  end,  which  a  gipsy  at  Wiesbaden  and 
a  fortune-teller  at  Corfu  had  foretold  her  in  the 
past  ?  Two  strange  incidents  incline  one  to 
think  so.  On  the  eve  of  her  departure  for  Geneva, 
she  asked  Mr.  Barker  to  read  her  a  few  chapters 
of  a  book  by  Marion  Crawford  entitled  Corleone, 
in  which  the  author  describes  the  detestable 
customs  of  the  Sicilian  Mafia.  While  the  Empress 
was  listening  to  this  harrowing  story,  a  raven, 
attracted  by  the  scent  of  some  fruit  which  she 
was  eating,  came  and  circled  round  her.  Greatly 
impressed,  she  tried  to  drive  it  off,  but  in  vain, 
for  it  constantly  returned,  filling  the  echoes 
with  its  mournful  croaking.  Then  she  rapidly 
walked  away,  for  she  knew  that  ravens  are 
harbingers  of  death  when  their  ill-omened  wings 
persist  in  flapping  around  a  living  person. 

Again,  Countess  Sztaray  told  me  that,  on  the 
morning  of  that  day,  she  went  into  the  Empress's 
room,  as  usual,  to  ask  how  she  had  slept,  and 
found  her  imperial  mistress  looking  pale  and 
sad. 

39 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

"  I  have  had  a  strange  experience,"  said 
Elizabeth.  "  I  was  awakened  in  the  middle  of 
the  night  by  the  bright  moonbeams  which  filled 
my  room,  for  the  servants  had  forgotten  to  draw 
the  blinds.  I  could  see  the  moon  from  my  bed 
and  it  seemed  to  have  the  face  of  a  woman  weep- 
ing. I  don't  know  if  it  is  a  presentiment,  but  I 
have  an  idea  that  I  shall  meet  with  misfortune." 

During  the  three  days  that  preceded  the  de- 
parture of  the  remains  for  Vienna,  I  stayed  and 
shared  the  funeral  watches  with  the  little  court, 
once  so  happy  and  now  so  pitifully  robbed  of 
its  mistress.  Field-marshal  von  Berzeviczy, 
Countess  Sztaray  and  I  sat  for  long  hours  con- 
juring up  the  memory  of  her  who  was  now  sleep- 
ing her  last  sleep  beside  us.  Countless  anecdotes 
were  told,  countless  tiny  and  charming  details. 
It  already  seemed  almost  a  distant  past  which 
we  were  for  the  last  time  recalling,  a  bright  and 
exquisite  past  which  the  gracious  Empress  was 
taking  away  with  her. 

I  went  to  see  the  murderer  in  his  cell.  I  found 
a  perfectly  lucid  being,  boasting  of  his  crime  as 
of  an  act  of  heroism.  When  I  asked  him  what 
motive  had  driven  him  to  choose  for  his  victim  a 
woman,  a  sovereign  living  as  far  removed  as 
possible  from  politics  and  the  throne,  one  who  had 
always  shown  so  much  compassion  for  the  humble 
and  the  destitute  : 

"  I  struck  at  the  first  crowned  head,"  he  said, 
"  that  came  along.     I  don't  care.     I  wanted  to 
make  a  manifestation  and  I  have  succeeded." 
40 


THE   EMPRESS   ELIZABETH 

The  unhappy  Empress's  destiny  was  to  be 
strange  and  romantic  until  the  end,  until  after 
her  death.  Her  body,  carried  to  an  hotel  bed- 
room, started  for  Austria  without  pomp  or 
display,  amid  an  immense  and  silent  crowd. 
The  Swiss  government  had  not  the  time  to  levy 
a  regiment  to  show  her  the  last  honours.  But 
it  was  better  so,  for  she  had,  as  her  escort,  a 
reverent  and  contemplative  nation  and,  as  her 
salute,  the  bells  of  all  the  towns  and  all  the 
villages  through  which  the  funeral  train  passed. 
And  this,  I  am  certain,  was  just  the  simple  and 
poetic  homage  which  her  heart  would  have 
desired. 

A  few  days  after  the  tragedy,  the  Emperor 
Francis  Joseph  deigned  to  remember  my  respect- 
ful attachment  to  the  consort  whom  he  had 
loved  so  well ;  and  I  received  the  following 
telegram  : — 

"WiENBURG,  15  September,  1898. 
"  To  M.  Paoli,  Ministry  of  the  Interior,  Paris. 

*'  His  Majesty  the  Emperor,  greatly  touched  by 
your  sincere  sympathy,  remembers  gratefully  the 
devoted  care  which  you  showed  the  late  Empress 
and  thanks  you  again  with  all  his  heart. 

"Paar, 

"  Principal  Aide-de-camp  to 

H.I.M.  the  Emperor  of  Austria." 

I  also  received  from  the  archduchesses,  the 
daughters,  a  hunting-knife  which  their  mother, 

41 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

the  poor  Empress,  had  valued  very  highly.  I 
keep  it  religiously  in  my  little  museum.  Some- 
times, I  take  it  out  and  look  at  it ;  and  it  invari- 
ably summons  up  one  of  the  saddest  and  most 
touching  ^memories  of  my  life. 


42 


CHAPTER   II 

KING   ALFONSO    XIII 


"  You  wanted  me,  to  complete  your  collection, 
did  you  not,  M.  Paoli  ?  " 

The  presidential  train  had  left  Hendaye;  the 
distant  strains  of  the  Spanish  national  anthem 
still  reached  our  ears  through  the  silence  and  the 
darkness.  Leaning  from  the  window  of  the  sleep- 
ing-car, I  was  watching  the  last  lights  of  the  little 
frontier-town  disappear  one  by  one. 

I  turned  round  briskly  at  the  sound  of  that  gay 
and  clear  voice.  A  tall,  slim  young  man  stood 
at  the  door  of  the  compartment,  with  a  cigarette 
between  his  lips  and  a  soft  felt  hat  on  his  head, 
and  gave  me  a  friendly  little  wave  of  the  hand. 
His  long,  slender  figure  looked  very  smart  and 
supple  in  a  pale-grey  travelling-suit ;  and  a  broad 
smile  lit  up  his  bronzed  face,  his  smooth,  boyish 
face,  adorned  with  the  large,  hooked  nose  of  the 
Bourbons,  planted  like  an  eagle's  beak  between 
two  very  dark  eyes,  full  of  fire  and  fun. 

"Yes,    yes,    M.    Paoli,    I    know    you,    though 

perhaps  you  don't  know  me   yet.     My  mother 

has  often  spoken  to  me  of  you,  and  when  she  heard 

that  you  had  been  appointed  to  watch  over  my 

43 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

safety,  she  said,  '  With  Paoh,  I  feel  quite  at 
ease.'  " 

"  I  am  infinitely  touched  and  flattered,  Sir," 
I  replied,  "  by  that  gracious  mark  of  confidence. 
...  It  is  true  that  my  collection  was  incomplete 
without  Your  Majesty." 

That  is  how  I  became  acquainted  with  H.M. 
Alfonso  XIII.  in  the  spring  of  1905,  at  the  time 
of  his  first  official  visit  to  France.  "  The  little 
King,"  as  he  was  still  called,  had  lately  completed 
his  nineteenth  year.  He  had  attained  his 
majority  a  bare  twelvemonth  before  and  was  just 
entering  upon  his  monarchical  career,  if  I  may 
so  express  myself.  The  watchful  eyes  of  Europe 
were  beginning  to  observe,  with  sympathetic 
interest,  the  first  actions  of  this  young  ruler,  who, 
with  the  exuberant  grace  of  his  gloriously  confi- 
dent youth,  supplied  a  startling  and  amusing 
contrast  with  the  somewhat  constrained  formality 
of  the  gallery  of  sovereigns.  Though  he  had  no 
history  as  yet,  plenty  of  anecdotes  were  already 
current  about  him  and  a  number  of  morals  were 
drawn  in  consequence. 

"  He  has  a  nature  built  up  of  impulse,"  said 
one. 

"  He  is  full  of  character,"  said  people  who  had 
met  him. 

"  He  is  like  his  father  :  he  would  charm  the  bird 
from  the  tree,"  an  old  Spanish  diplomatist 
remarked  to  me. 

"  At  any  rate,  there  is  nothing  commonplace 
about  him,"  thought  I,  still  perplexed  by  the 
44 


KING   ALFONSO   XIII 

unconventional,  amusing,  jocular  way  in  which 
he  had  interrupted  my  nocturnal  contemplations. 

No,  he  was  certainly  not  commonplace  !  The 
next  morning,  I  saw  him  at  early  dawn  at  the 
windows  of  the  saloon-carriage,  devouring  with 
a  delighted  curiosity  the  sights  that  met  his  eyes 
as  the  train  rushed  at  full  speed  through  the 
verdant  plains  of  the  Charente.  Nothing  escaped 
his  youthful  enthusiasm  :  fields,  forests,  rivers, 
things,  people.  Everything  gave  rise  to  sparkling 
exclamations : 

"  What  a  lovely  country  yours  is,  M.  Paoli  !  " 
he  cried,  when  he  saw  me  standing  near  him.  "  I 
feel  as  if  I  were  still  at  home,  as  if  I  knew  every- 
body :  the  faces  all  seem  familiar.  It's  '  stun- 
ning !  '  " 

At  the  sound  of  this  typical  Parisian  expression 
(the  French  word  which  he  employed  was  epatant) 
proceeding  from  the  royal  lips,  it  was  my  turn  to 
be  "  stunned."  In  my  innocence,  I  was  not  yet 
aware  that  he  knew  all  our  fashionable  slang 
phrases  and  used  them  freely. 

His  spirits  were  as  inexhaustible  as  his  bodily 
activity;  and,  upon  my  word,  we  were  hard  put 
to  it  to  keep  up  with  him.  Now  running  from 
one  window  to  another,  so  as  to  "  miss  nothing," 
as  he  said,  with  a  laugh;  now  leaning  over  the 
back  of  a  chair  or  swinging  his  legs  from  a  table ; 
now  striding  up  and  down  the  carriage,  with  his 
hands  in  his  pockets  and  the  everlasting  cigarette 
between  his  lips,  he  questioned  us  without  ceas- 
ing.    He  wanted  to  know  everything,  though  he 

45 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

knew  a  great  deal  as  it  was.  The  army  and  navy 
excited  his  interest  in  the  highest  degree;  the 
provinces  through  which  we  were  passing,  their 
customs,  their  past,  their  administrative  organ- 
ization, their  industries,  suppUed  him  with  the 
subjects  of  an  exhaustive  interrogatory,  to  which 
we  did  our  best  to  reply.  Our  social  laws,  our 
parliament,  our  politicians  aroused  his  lively 
curiosity  as  eagerly  .  .  .  and  then  came  the  turn 
of  Paris,  that  Paris  which  he  was  at  last  about  to 
see,  whose  splendours  and  peculiarities  he  already 
knew  from  reading  and  hearsay,  that  Paris  which 
he  looked  upon  as  a  fairy-land,  a  promised  land ; 
and  the  thought  that  he  was  to  be  solemnly 
welcomed  there  sent  a  slight  flush  of  excitement 
to  his  cheeks. 

"  It  must  be  wonderful  !  "  he  said,  his  eyes 
ablaze  with  pleasurable  impatience. 

He  also  insisted  upon  our  giving  him  full  details 
about  the  persons  who  were  to  receive  him : 

"  What  is  M.  Loubet  like  ?  And  the  prime 
minister  ?     And  the  Governor  of  Paris  ?  " 

When  he  was  not  putting  questions,  he  was 
telling  stories,  recalling  his  impressions  of  his 
recent  journeys  in  Spain: 

"  Confess,  M.  Paoli,"  he  said,  suddenly,  "  that 
you  have  never  had  to  look  after  a  king  as  young 
as  I." 

His  conversation,  jesting  and  serious  by  turns, 
studded  with  judicious  reflections,  with  smart 
sallies,  with  whimsical  outbursts  and  unexpected 
digressions,  revealed  a  young  and  keen  inteUi- 
46 


KING  ALFONSO   XIII 

gence,  eager  after  knowledge,  a  fresh  mind  open 
to  effusive  ideas,  a  quivering  imagination,  counter- 
balanced, however,  by  a  reflective  brain.  I  re- 
member the  astonishment  of  the  French  officers 
who  had  come  to  meet  him  at  the  frontier,  on 
hearing  him  discuss  matters  of  military  strategy 
with  the  authority  and  the  expert  wisdom  of  an 
old  tactician;  I  remember  also  the  surprise  of  a 
high  official  who  had  joined  the  train  mid-way 
and  to  whose  explanations  the  King  was  lending 
an  attentive  ear  when  we  crossed  a  bridge  over 
the  Loire,  in  which  some  water-fowl  happened  to 
be  disporting  themselves. 

"  Oh,  what  a  pity  !  "  the  King  broke  in. 
"  Why  haven't  I  a  gun  ?  "  And,  taking  aim  with 
an  imaginary  fowling-piece,  "  What  a  fine  shot  !  " 

Again,  I  remember  the  spontaneous  and  charm- 
ing way  in  which,  full  of  admiration  for  the 
beauties  of  our  Touraine,  he  tapped  me  on  the 
shoulder  and  cried  : 

"  There's  no  doubt  about  it,  I  love  France  ! 
France  for  ever  !  " 

What  was  not  my  surprise,  afterwards,  at 
Orleans,  where  the  first  official  stop  was  made, 
to  see  him  appear  in  his  full  uniform  as  captain- 
general  of  the  Spanish  army,  his  features  wearing 
an  air  of  singular  dignity,  his  gait  proud  and 
lofty,  compelling  in  all  of  us  a  respect  for  the 
impressive  authority  that  emanated  from  his 
whole  person !  He  found  the  right  word  for 
everybody,  was  careful  of  the  least  shades  of 
etiquette,  moved,   talked   and   smiled   amid  the 

47 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

gold-laced  uniforms  with  a  sovereign  ease,  show- 
ing from  the  first  that  he  knew  better  than 
anybody  how  to  play  his  part  as  a  king. 

There  is  one  action,  very  simple  in  appearance, 
but  in  reality  more  difficult  than  one  would  think, 
by  which  we  can  judge  a  sovereign's  bearing  in  a 
foreign  country.  This  is  his  manner  of  saluting 
the  colour.  Some,  as  they  pass  before  the 
standard  surrounded  by  its  guard  of  honour, 
content  themselves  with  raising  their  hand  to  their 
cap  or  helmet;  others  stop  and  bow;  others, 
lastly,  make  a  wide  and  studied  gesture  which 
betrays  a  certain,  almost  theatrical  affectation. 
Alfonso  XIII. 's  salute  is  like  none  of  these  :  in 
its  military  stiffness,  it  is  at  once  simple  and 
grave,  marked  by  supreme  elegance  and  profound 
deference.  On  the  platform  of  the  Orleans  rail- 
way-station, opposite  the  motionless  battalion, 
in  the  presence  of  a  number  of  officers  and  civil 
functionaries,  this  salute,  which  so  visibly  paid  a 
delicate  homage  to  the  army  and  the  country, 
this  graceful  and  respectful  salute  moved  and 
flattered  us  more  than  any  number  of  toasts  and 
speeches.  And,  when,  at  last,  I  went  home, 
after  witnessing  the  young  King's  arrival  in  the 
capital  and  noticing  the  impression  which  he  had 
made  on  the  government  and  the  people,  I  recalled 
the  old  Spanish  diplomatist's  remark  : 

"  The  King  would  charm  the  bird  from  the 
tree  !  " 


48 


KING  ALFONSO   XIII 


I  saw  little  of  King  Alfonso  during  his  first  stay 
in  Paris.  The  protection  of  sovereigns  who  are 
the  official  guests  of  the  government  did  not  come 
within  the  scope  of  my  duties.  I  therefore  left 
him  at  the  station  and  was  not  to  resume  my 
place  in  his  suite  until  the  moment  of  his  de- 
parture. The  anarchist  and  revolutionary  gentry 
appeared  to  be  unaware  of  this  detail,  for  I  daily 
received  a  fair  number  of  anonymous  letters, 
most  of  which  contained  more  or  less  vague 
threats  against  the  person  of  our  royal  visitor. 
One  of  them,  which  the  post  brought  me  as  I  was 
on  the  point  of  proceeding  to  the  gala  performance 
given  at  the  Opera  in  his  honour,  struck  me  more 
particularly  because  of  the  plainness  of  the  warn- 
ing which  it  conveyed,  a  warning  devoid  of  any 
of  the  insults  that  usually  accompany  this  sort  of 
communication : — 

"  In  spite  of  all  the  precautions  that  have  been 
taken,"  it  read,  "  the  King  had  better  be  careful 
when  he  leaves  the  Opera  to-night." 

This  note  was  written  in  a  rough,  disguised  hand, 
and  was,  of  course,  unsigned.  I  at  once  passed  it 
on  to  the  right  quarter.  The  very  strict  super- 
vision that  was  being  exercised  no  doubt  excluded 
the  possibility  of  a  successful  plot.  But  there  re- 
mained the  danger  of  an  individual  attempt,  the 

murderous  act  of  a  single  person ;  and  I  knew  by 
E  49 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

experience  that,  to  protect  one's  self  against  that, 
one  must  rely  exclusively  upon  ''  the  police  of 
Heaven,"  to  use  the  picturesque  expression  of 
Senor  Maura,  the  Spanish  premier. 

Haunted  by  a  baneful  presentiment,  I  never- 
theless decided,  on  leaving  the  Opera,  to  remain 
near  the  King's  carriage  (as  a  mere  passer-by,  of 
course)  until  he  had  stepped  into  it  with  M. 
Loubet  and  driven  off,  surrounded  by  his  squadron 
of  cavalry.  The  attempt  on  his  life  took  place  at 
the  corner  of  the  Rue  de  Rohan  and  the  Rue  de 
Rivoli ;  and  both  the  King  and  M.  Loubet  enjoyed 
a  miraculous  escape  from  death.  My  presenti- 
ment, therefore,  had  not  been  at  fault. 

I  need  not  here  recall  the  coolness  which  the 
young  monarch  displayed  in  these  circumstances, 
for  it  is  still  present  in  every  memory,  nor  the 
magnificent  indifference  with  which  he  looked 
upon  the  tragic  incident. 

"  I  have  received  my  baptism  of  fire,"  he  said 
to  me,  a  couple  of  days  later,  "  and,  upon  my 
word,  it  was  much  less  exciting  than  I  expected  !  " 

Alfonso  XIII.,  in  fact,  has  a  fine  contempt  for 
danger.  Like  the  late  King  Humbert,  he  con- 
siders that  assassination  is  one  of  the  little  draw- 
backs attendant  on  the  trade  of  king.  He  gave 
a  splendid  proof  of  this  courage  at  the  time  of  the 
Madrid  bomb,  of  which  I  shall  speak  later;  and 
I  was  able  to  see  it  for  myself  two  days  after  the 
attempted  assassination  in  the  Rue  de  Rohan. 

On  leaving  Paris,  our  royal  visitor  went  to 
Cherbourg,  where  I  accompanied  him,  to  embark 
50 


KING  ALFONSO   XIII 

on  board  the  British  royal  yacht,  which  was  to 
take  him  to  England.  As  we  approached  the 
town  in  the  early  morning,  the  presidential  train 
was  shunted  to  the  special  line  that  leads  direct 
to  the  dockyard.  Suddenly,  while  we  were 
running  pretty  fast,  a  sharp  stop  took  place, 
producing  a  violent  shock  in  all  the  carriages. 
The  reader  can  imagine  the  excitement.  The 
railway-officials,  officers  and  chamberlains  of  the 
court  sprang  out  on  the  permanent  way  and  rushed 
to  the  royal  saloon. 

"  Another  attempt  ?  "  asked  the  King,  calmly 
smiling,  as  he  put  his  head  out  of  the  window. 

We  all  thought  so  at  the  first  moment.  For- 
tunately, it  was  only  a  slight  accident  :  the  rear 
luggage-van  had  left  the  rails  through  a  mistake 
in  the  shunting.  I  hastened  to  explain  the  matter 
to  the  King. 

"  You'll  see,"  he  at  once  replied,  "  they  will 
say,  all  the  same,  that  it  was  an  attempt  upon 
my  life  :  I  must  let  my  mother  know  quickly,  or 
she  will  be  frightened." 

The  King  was  right.  Some  one,  we  never 
discovered  who,  had  already  found  means  to 
telegraph  to  Queen  Maria  Christina  that  a  fresh 
attack  had  been  made  on  her  son.  There  are 
always  plenty  of  bearers  of  ill-news,  even  where 
sovereigns  are  concerned  .  .  .  and  especially 
when  the  news  is  false  ! 

I  took  leave  of  the  King  at  Cherbourg  and 
joined  him,  the  week  after,  at  Calais,  whence  I 
was  to  accompany  him  to  the  Spanish  frontier, 

E2  5] 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

for  he  was  returning  straight  to  his  own  country. 
This  time,  the  official  journey  was  over;  and  I 
once  more  found  the  pleasant,  simple  young  man, 
in  the  pale-grey  suit  and  the  soft  hat.  The  warm 
welcome  which  he  had  received  in  England  had 
not  wiped  out  his  enthusiastic  recollections  of 
France. 

"  By  George,"  he  declared,  "  how  glad  I  am  to 
see  this  beautiful  country  again,  even  through 
the  windows  of  the  railway-carriage  !  " 

A  violent  shower  set  in  as  we  left  Calais.  The 
train  went  along  a  line  in  process  of  repair  and 
had  to  travel  very  slowly.  At  that  moment, 
seeing  some  gangs  of  navvies  working  under  the 
diluvial  downpour  and  soaked  to  the  skin,  the 
King  leant  out  of  the  window  and,  addressing 
them  : 

"  Wait  a  bit !  "  he  said.  "  This  will  warm 
you.     I'll  give  you  something  to  smoke." 

And  the  King,  after  emptying  the  contents  of 
his  cigarette-case  into  their  horny  hands,  took 
the  boxes  of  cigars  and  cigarettes  that  lay  on 
the  tables,  one  after  the  other,  and  passed 
them  through  the  window,  first  to  the  delighted 
labourers  and  then  to  the  soldiers  drawn  up  on 
either  side  of  the  line.  They  had  never  known  such 
a  windfall  :  it  rained  Upmanns,  Henry  Clays  and 
Turkish  cigarettes.  When  none  were  left,  the 
King  appealed  to  the  members  of  his  suite,  whom 
he  laughingly  plundered  for  the  benefit  of  those 
decent  fellows.  They,  not  knowing  his  quality, 
shouted  gaily : 
52 


KING   ALFONSO   XIII 

"  Thank  you,  sir,  thank  you !  Come  back 
soon  !  " 

We  had  but  one  regret,  that  of  remaining 
without  anything  to  smoke  until  we  were  able, 
at  the  next  stop,  to  replenish  our  provisions  of 
tobacco  which  had  been  exhausted  in  so  diverting 
a  fashion. 

When,  on  the  following  morning,  we  reached 
Hendaye,  which  is  the  frontier-station  between 
France  and  Spain,  a  very  comical  incident 
occurred  that  amused  the  young  traveller  greatly. 
By  a  purely  fortuitous  coincidence,  a  crowd  was 
waiting,  as  we  pulled  up,  for  the  train  of  the  late 
King  Carlos  of  Portugal,  who  was  also  about  to 
pay  an  official  visit  to  France ;  and  the  authori- 
ties and  troops  had  collected  on  the  platform  to 
show  the  usual  honours  to  this  new  guest.  Our 
sudden  arrival,  for  which  nobody  was  prepared, 
as  Alfonso  XIII.  was  not  now  travelling  officially, 
utterly  disconcerted  the  resplendent  crowd. 
Would  the  King  of  Spain  think  that  they  were 
there  on  his  account,  and  would  he  not  be  offended 
when  he  discovered  his  mistake  ?  It  was  a 
difficult  position,  but  the  prefect  rose  to  the 
occasion.  As  the  King  of  Portugal's  train  was 
not  yet  signalled,  he  gave  orders  to  pay  the 
honours  to  Alfonso  XIII. 

The  moment,  therefore,  that  our  train  stopped, 
the  authorities  and  general  officers  hurried  in  our 
direction  and  the  band  of  the  regiment,  which 
had  been  practising  the  Portuguese  royal  anthem, 
briskly    struck   up    the    Spanish    hymn    instead. 

53 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

But  the  King,  who  knew  what  was  what,  leant 
from  the  window  and,  chaffingly,  cried  : 

"  Please,  gentlemen,  please  !  I  know  that  you 
are  not  here  for  me,  but  for  my  next-door  neigh- 
bour !  " 

At  Irun,  the  first  Spanish  station,  where  I  was 
to  take  leave  of  our  guest,  a  fresh  surprise  awaited 
us.  There  was  not  a  trace  of  police  protection, 
not  a  soldier,  not  a  gendarme.  An  immense 
crowd  had  freely  invaded  both  platforms.  And 
such  a  crowd  !  Thousands  of  men,  women  and 
children  shouted,  sang,  waved  their  hands, 
hustled  one  another  and  fired  guns  into  the  air 
for  joy,  while  the  King,  calm  and  smiling,  elbowed 
his  way  from  the  presidential  to  the  royal  train, 
patting  the  children's  heads  as  he  passed,  paying 
a  compliment  to  their  mothers,  distributing 
friendly  nods  to  the  men  who  were  noisily  cheer- 
ing him.  And  I  thought  of  our  democratic 
country,  in  which  we  imprison  the  rulers  of  States 
in  an  impenetrable  circle  of  police  supervision, 
whereas  here,  in  a  monarchical  country,  labouring 
under  a  so-called  reign  of  terror,  the  sovereign 
walks  about  in  the  midst  of  strangers,  unpro- 
tected by  any  precautionary  measures.  It  was  a 
striking  contrast. 

But  my  mission  was  at  an  end.  Still  laughing, 
the  King,  as  he  gave  me  his  hand,  said  : 

"  Well,  M.  Paoli,  you  can  no  longer  say  that 
you  haven't  got  me  in  your  collection  !  " 

"  I  beg  your  pardon.  Sir,"  I  replied.     "  It's  not 
complete  yet." 
54 


KING   ALFONSO   XIII 

"  How  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  Why,  Sir,  I  haven't  your  portrait." 

"  Oh,  we  must  see  to  that  !  "  And,  turning  to 
the  lord  steward  of  his  household,  "  Santo  Mauro, 
make  a  note  :  photo  for  M.  Paoli." 

A  few  days  after,  I  received  a  photograph, 
signed  and  dated  by  the  royal  hand. 


Five  months  later,  Alfonso  XIII.,  returning 
from  Germany,  where  he  had  been  to  pay  his 
accession-visit  to  the  court  of  Berlin,  stopped  to 
spend  a  day  incognito  in  Paris.  I  found  him  as 
I  had  left  him  :  gay,  enthusiastic,  full  of  good- 
nature, glad  to  be  alive. 

"  Here  I  am  again,  my  dear  M.  PaoH,"  he  said, 
when  he  perceived  me  at  the  frontier,  where, 
according  to  custom,  I  had  gone  to  meet  him. 
"  But  this  time  I  shall  not  cause  you  any  great 
worry.  I  must  go  home,  and  I  sha'n't  stop  in 
Paris  for  more  than  twenty-four  hours — worse 
luck !  " 

On  the  other  hand,  he  wasted  none  of  his  time. 
Jumping  into  a  motor-car  the  moment  he  was 
out  of  the  train,  he  first  drove  to  the  Hotel 
Bristol,  where  he  remained  just  long  enough  to 
change  his  clothes,  after  which  he  managed, 
during  his  brief  stay,  to  hear  mass  in  the  church 
of  St.  Roch,  for  it  was  Sunday,  to  pay  a  visit 
to  M.  Loubet,  to  make  some  purchases  in  the 
principal    shops,    to    lunch    with   his  aunt,    the 

55 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

Infanta  Eulalie,  to  take  a  motor-drive,  in  the 
pouring  rain,  to  Saint-Germain  and  back,  to  dine 
at  the  Spanish  Embassy,  and  to  wind  up  the 
evening  at  the  Theatre  des  Varietes. 

"  And  it's  Hke  that  every  day,  when  he  is 
travelHng,"  said  one  of  his  suite. 

The  King,  I  may  say,  makes  up  for  his  daily 
expenditure  of  activity  with  a  tremendous  appe- 
tite. I  have  observed,  for  that  matter,  that  the 
majority  of  sovereigns  are  vahant  trenchermen. 
Every  morning  of  his  life,  Alfonso  XIII.  has  a 
good  rumpsteak  and  potatoes  for  his  first  break- 
fast, often  preceded  by  eggs  and  sometimes 
followed  by  salad  and  fruit.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  King  seldom  drinks  wine  and  generally  con- 
fines himself  to  a  tumbler  of  water  and  zucharillos, 
the  national  beverage,  composed  of  white  of  egg, 
beaten  up  with  sugar. 

In  spite  of  his  continual  need  of  movement, 
his  passionate  love  of  sport  in  all  its  forms  and 
especially  of  motoring,  his  expansive,  rather 
mad,  but  very  attractive  youthfulness,  Alfonso 
XIIL,  even  in  his  flying  trips,  never,  as  we  have 
seen,  loses  the  occasion  of  improving  his  mind. 
He  is  very  quick  at  seizing  a  point,  possesses  a 
remarkable  power  of  assimilation,  and,  though  he 
does  not  read  much,  for  he  has  not  the  gift  of 
patience,  he  is  remarkably  well-informed  as  re- 
gards the  smallest  details  that  interest  him.  One 
day,  for  instance,  he  asked  me,  point-blank  : 

"  Do  you  know  how  many  gendarmes  there 
are  in  France  ?  " 
56 


KING   ALFONSO   XIII 

I  confess  that  I  was  greatly  puzzled  what  to 
reply,  for  I  have  never  cared  for  statistics.  I 
ventured,  therefore,  on  the  off-chance,  to  say  : 

"  Ten  thousand." 

"  Ten  thousand  !  Come,  M.  Paoli,  what  are 
you  thinking  of  ?  That's  the  number  we  have 
in  Spain.     It's  more  like  twenty  thousand." 

This  figure,  as  I  afterwards  learnt,  was  strictly 
accurate. 

As  for  business  of  State,  I  also  noticed  that  the 
King  devoted  more  time  to  it  than  his  restless 
life  would  lead  one  to  believe.  Rising,  winter 
and  summer,  at  six  o'clock,  he  stays  indoors  and 
works  regularly  during  the  early  portion  of  the 
morning  and  often  again  at  night.  In  this 
connection,  one  of  his  ministers  said  to  me  : 

"  He  never  shows  a  sign  of  either  weariness  or 
boredom.  The  King's  '  frivolity  '  is  a  popular 
fallacy.  On  the  contrary,  he  is  terribly  pains- 
taking. Just  like  the  Queen  Mother,  he  insists 
upon  clear  and  detailed  explanations,  before 
signing  the  least  document,  and  he  knows  quite 
well  how  to  make  his  will  felt.  Besides,  he  is 
fond  of  work,  and  he  can  work  no  matter  where  : 
in  a  motor-car,  in  a  boat,  in  the  train,  as  well  as 
in  his  study." 

But  it  was  especially  on  the  occasion  of  the 
event  which  was  to  mark  an  indelible  date  in 
his  life,  a  fair  and  happy  date,  that  I  had  time  to 
observe  him  and  to  learn  to  know  him  better. 
.  .  .  The  reader  will  have  guessed  that  I  am 
referring  to  his  engagement.     The  duties  which  I 

57 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

fulfilled  during  a  quarter  of  a  century  have  some- 
times involved  difficult  moments,  delicate  re- 
sponsibilities, thankless  tasks,  but  they  have  also 
procured  me  many  charming  compensations ; 
and  I  have  no  more  delightful  recollection  than 
that  of  witnessing,  at  first  hand,  that  fresh  and 
touching  royal  idyll,  that  simple,  cloudless 
romance,  wliich  began  one  fine  evening  in  London, 
was  continued  under  the  sunny  sky  of  tlic  Basque 
coast,  and  ended  by  leading  to  one  of  those  rare 
unions  which  satisfy  the  exigencies  both  of  public 
policy  and  of  the  heart. 

Like  his  father  before  him,  Alfonso  XIIL,  when 
his  ministers  began  to  hint  discreetly  about 
possible  "  alliances,"  contented  himself  with 
replying  : 

"  I  shall  marry  a  princess  who  takes  my  fancy 
and  nobody  else.     I  intend  to  love  my  wife." 

Nevertheless,  diplomatic  intrigues  fashioned 
themselves  around  tlie  young  sovereign.  The 
Emperor  William  would  have  liked  to  see  a 
German  princess  share  the  throne  of  Spain ;  a 
marriage  with  an  Austrian  archduchess  would 
have  continued  a  time-honoured  tradition ;  the 
question  of  a  French  princess  was  also  mooted, 
I  believe.  .  .  .  But  the  political  rapprochement 
between  Spain  and  England  had  just  been  accom- 
plished under  French  auspices ;  an  Anglo-Spanish 
marriage  seemed  to  correspond  with  the  interests 
of  Spain ;  and  it  so  happened  that  the  Princess 
Patricia  of  Connaught  had  lately  been  seen  in 
Andalusia.  Her  name  was  on  all  men's  lips ; 
58 


KING   ALFONSO   XIII 

already,  in  the  silence  of  the  palace,  official  circles 
were  preparing  for  this  union.  Only  one  detail 
had  been  omitted,  but  it  was  a  detail  of  the  first 
importance  :  that  of  consulting  the  two  persons 
directly  interested,  who  did  not  even  know  each 
other. 

When  the  King  went  to  England,  no  one 
thought  for  a  moment  but  that  he  would  return 
engaged  .  .  .  and  engaged  to  Patricia  of  Con- 
naught.  The  diplomatists,  however,  had  reckoned 
without  a  factor  which  was  doubtless  foreign 
to  them,  but  which  was  all-powerful  in  the  eyes 
of  Alfonso  XIII.  :  the  little  factor  known  as 
love. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  when  the  two  young  people 
met,  they  did  not  attract  each  other.  On  the 
other  hand,  at  the  ball  given  in  the  King's  honour 
at  Buckingham  Palace,  Alfonso  never  took  his 
eyes  off  a  young,  fair-haired  princess,  whose 
radiant  beauty  shed  all  the  glory  of  spring  around 
her. 

"  Who  is  that  ?  "  asked  the  King. 

"  Princess  Ena  of  Battenberg,"  was  the  reply. 

The  two  were  presented,  danced  and  talked 
together,  met  again  on  the  next  day  and  on  the 
following  days.  And,  when  the  King  returned 
to  Spain,  he  left  his  heart  in  England. 

But  he  did  not  breathe  a  word  about  it.  His 
little  idyll,  which  took  the  form  of  an  interchange 
of  letters  and  postcards,  as  well  as  of  secret 
negotiations  with  a  view  to  marriage — negotia- 
tions conducted  with  the  English  royal  family 

59 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

by  the  King  in  person — ^was  pursued  in  the 
greatest  mystery.  People  knew,  of  course,  that 
the  princess  and  the  King  Hked  and  admired  each 
other;  but  they  knew  nothing  of  the  young 
monarch's  private  plans.  Moreover,  he  took  a 
pleasure  in  mystifying  those  about  him  :  he,  who 
had  once  been  so  expansive,  now  became  suddenly 
contemplative  and  reserved. 

Soon  after  his  return,  he  ordered  a  yacht ;  and, 
when  the  time  came  to  christen  her,  he  made  the 
builders  paint  on  the  bows,  in  gold  letters  : 

"PRINCESS     .  .  ." 

The  comments  aroused  by  those  three  little 
dots  may  be  easily  imagined. 

The  moment,  however,  was  at  hand  when  the 
name  of  the  royal  yacht's  godmother  and,  there- 
fore, of  the  future  Queen  of  Spain  was  to  be 
revealed.  One  morning  in  January  1906,  I 
received  a  letter  from  Miss  Minnie  Cochrane, 
Princess  Henry  of  Battenberg's  faithful  lady-in- 
waiting,  telling  me  that  the  princess  and  her 
daughter.  Princess  Ena,  were  leaving  shortly  for 
Biarritz,  to  stay  with  their  cousin,  the  Princess 
Frederica  of  Hanover,  and  inviting  me  to  accom- 
pany them.  This  kind  thought  is  explained  by 
the  fact  that  I  had  known  the  princess  and  her 
daughter  for  many  years  :  I  had  often  had 
occasion  to  see  Princess  Beatrice  with  the  late 
Queen  Victoria,  to  whom  she  showed  the  most 
tender  filial  affection;  I  had  also  known  Princess 
Ena  as  a  little  girl,  when  she  still  wore  short  frocks 
60 


KING   ALFONSO   XIII 

and  long  fair  curls,  and  when  she  used  to  play  with 
her  dolls  under  the  fondly- smiling  gaze  of  her 
august  grandmother.  She  was  then  a  grave  and 
reflective  child;  she  had  great,  deep,  expressive 
blue  eyes;  and  she  was  a  little  shy,  like  her 
mother. 

When,  at  Calais,  I  beheld  a  fresh  and  beautiful 
girl,  unreserved  and  gay,  a  real  fairy-princess, 
whose  face,  radiant  with  gladness,  so  evidently 
reflected  a  very  sweet,  secret  happiness;  when, 
on  the  day  after  her  arrival  at  Biarritz,  I  un- 
expectedly saw  King  Alfonso  arrive  in  a  great 
state  of  excitement  and  surprised  the  first  glance 
which  they  exchanged  at  the  door  of  the  villa  .  .  . 
then  I  understood.  Nor  was  I  in  the  least 
astonished  when  Miss  Cochrane,  whom  I  had 
ventured  to  ask  if  it  was  true  that  there  was 
a  matrimonial  project  on  foot  between  the  King 
and  the  princess,  answered,  with  a  significant 
smile  : 

"  I  think  so  ...  it  is  not  officially  settled  yet ; 
it  will  be  decided  here." 


The  Villa  Mouriscot,  where  the  princesses  were 
staying,  was  a  picturesque  Basque  chalet, 
elegantly  and  comfortably  furnished.  Standing 
on  a  height,  at  two  miles  from  Biarritz,  whence 
the  eye  commanded  the  magnificent  circle  of 
hiUs,  and  buried  in  the  midst  of  luxuriant  and 
fragrant  gardens,  intersected  by  shady  and  silent 

61 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

walks,  it  formed  an  appropriately  poetic  setting 
for  the  romance  of  the  royal  betrothal. 

The  King  came  every  day.  Wrapped  in  a  huge 
cloak,  with  a  motoring-cap  and  goggles,  he  would 
arrive  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  from  San 
Sebastian,  in  his  double  Panhard  phaeton,  which 
he  drove  himself,  except  on  the  rare  occasions 
when  he  entrusted  the  steering-wheel  to  his 
excellent  French  chauffeur,  Antonin,  who  accom- 
panied him  on  all  his  excursions.  His  friends  the 
Marques  de  Viana,  the  young  Conde  de  Villalobar, 
counsellor  to  the  Spanish  Embassy  in  London, 
Senor  Quinones  de  Leon,  the  charming  attache 
to  the  Paris  embassy,  the  Conde  del  Grove,  his 
faithful  aide-de-camp,  or  the  Marques  de  Pacheco, 
commanding  the  palace  halberdiers,  formed  his 
usual  suite.  As  soon  as  the  car  had  passed 
through  the  gates  and  stopped  before  the  door, 
where  Baron  von  Pawel-Rammingen,  the  Princess 
Frederica's  husband,  and  Colonel  Lord  William 
Cecil,  the  Princess  Henry  of  Battenberg's  comp- 
troller, awaited  him,  the  King  hurried  to  the 
drawing-room,  where  the  pretty  princess  sat 
looking  out  for  his  arrival,  as  impatient  for  the 
meeting  as  the  King  himself. 

After  the  King  had  greeted  his  hosts  at  the  villa, 
he  and  the  princess  walked  into  the  gardens  and 
exchanged  much  lively  talk  as  they  strolled  about 
the  paths  in  which,  as  Gounod's  song  says,  "  lovers 
lose  their  way."  They  returned  in  time  for  the 
family  lunch,  a  very  simple  repast,  to  which  the 
King's  tremendous  appetite  did  full  honour.  He 
62 


KING  ALFONSO   XIII 

used  often  to  send  for  Fraulein  Zinska,  the 
Princess  Frederica's  old  Hanoverian  cook,  and 
congratulate  her  on  her  culinary  capacities,  a 
proceeding  which  threw  the  good  woman  into  an 
ecstasy  of  delight.  After  lunch,  the  young  people, 
accompanied  by  Miss  Cochrane  as  chaperon,  went 
out  in  the  motor,  not  returning  until  nearly  dark. 
On  rainy  days,  of  course,  there  was  no  drive ;  but 
in  the  drawing-room  of  the  villa  the  Princess 
Frederica  had  thoughtfully  contrived  a  sort  of 
"  cosy  corner,"  in  which  the  engaged  couple  could 
pursue  their  discreet  flirtation  at  their  ease.  When 
they  took  refuge  there,  young  Prince  Alexander  of 
Battenberg,  who  had  joined  his  family  at  Biarritz, 
used  to  tease  them  : 

"  Look  out  !  "  he  would  cry  to  any  one  entering 
the  room.  "  Be  careful !  Don't  disturb  the 
lovers  !  " 

In  the  evening,  at  dinner,  the  suite  were  present. 
The  King  changed  into  evening- clothes,  with 
the  collar  of  the  Golden  Fleece.  At  half-past 
ten,  he  left  for  the  station  and  returned  to  San 
Sebastian  by  the  Sud-Express. 

After  a  few  days,  although  the  pair  were  not 
yet  officially  betrothed,  no  one  doubted  but  that 
the  event  was  near  at  hand. 

"  She's  charming,  isn't  she  ?  "  the  King  asked 
me,  straight  out. 

A  significant  detail  served  to  show  me  how  far 
things  had  gone.  One  day,  the  two  young  people, 
accompanied  by  the  Princesses  Frederica  and 
Beatrice  and  the  whole  little  court,  walked  to  the 

63 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

end  of  the  grounds,  to  a  spot,  near  the  lake,  where 
two  holes  had  been  newly  dug.  A  gardener 
stood  waiting  for  them,  carrying  two  miniature 
fir-plants  in  his  arms. 

"  This  is  mine,"  said  the  King. 

"  And  this  is  mine,"  said  the  princess,  in 
French,  for  they  constantly  spoke  French  to- 
gether. 

"  We  must  plant  the  trees  side  by  side," 
declared  the  King,  "  so  that  they  may  always 
remind  us  of  these  never-to-be-forgotten  days." 

No  sooner  said  than  done.  In  accordance  with 
the  old  English  custom,  the  two  of  them,  each 
laying  hold  of  a  spade,  dug  up  the  earth  and  heaped 
it  round  the  shrubs,  with  shouts  of  laughter  that 
rang  clear  through  the  silent  wood.  Then,  when 
the  King,  who,  in  spite  of  his  strength  of  arm,  is  a 
poor  gardener,  perceived  that  the  princess  had 
finished  her  task  first : 

"  There's  no  doubt  about  it,"  he  said,  "  I  am 
very  awkward  !  I  must  put  in  a  month  or  two 
with  the  sappers  !  " 

On  returning  to  the  villa,  he  gave  the  princess 
her  first  present  :  a  heart  set  in  brilliants.  It  was 
certainly  a  day  of  symbols. 

On  the  following  day,  things  took  a  more 
definite  turn.  The  King  came  to  fetch  the  prin- 
cesses in  the  morning  to  take  them  to  San  Sebas- 
tian, where  they  met  Queen  Maria  Christina. 
Nobody  knew  what  happened  in  the  course  of 
the  interview  and  the  subsequent  private  luncheon 
at  the  Miramar  Palace.  But  it  was,  beyond  a 
64 


KING   ALFONSO   XllI 

doubt,  a  decisive  day.  At  Fuenterrabia,  the  first 
Spanish  town  through  which  they  passed  on 
their  way  to  San  Sebastian  in  the  morning,  the 
King  said  to  the  princess  ; 

"  You  are  now  on  Spanish  soiL" 

"  Oh,"  she  said,  "  I  am  so  glad  !  " 

"  It  will  soon  be  for  good." 

And  they  smiled  to  each  other. 

The  frantic  cheering  that  greeted  Princess  Ena's 
arrival  at  San  Sebastian,  the  hail  of  flowers  that 
fell  at  her  feet  as  she  passed  through  the  streets, 
the  motherly  kiss  with  which  she  was  received 
at  the  door  of  Queen  Maria  Christina's  drawing- 
room,  must  have  convinced  her  that  all  Spain  had 
confirmed  its  sovereign's  choice  and  applauded 
his  good  taste. 

Twenty-four  hours  after  this  visit,  the  Queen 
Mother,  in  her  turn,  went  to  Biarritz  and  took 
tea  at  the  Villa  Mouriscot.  The  King  had  gone 
on  before  her.  Intense  happiness  was  reflected 
on  every  face.  As  the  Queen  stepped  into  her 
carriage,  after  graciously  sending  for  me  to  thank 
me  for  the  care  which  I  was  taking  of  her  son, 
she  said  to  the  princess,  with  a  smile : 

"  We  shall  soon  see  you  in  Madrid." 

Then,  taking  a  white  rose  from  the  bouquet 
with  which  the  Mayor  of  Biarritz  had  presented 
her,  she  gave  it  to  the  princess,  who  pressed  it  to 
her  lips  before  pinning  it  to  her  bodice. 

That  same  evening,  the  King,  beaming  all  over 
his  face,  cried  to  me  from  a  distance,  the  moment 
that  he  saw  me  : 

*  65 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

*'  It's  all  right,  Paoli ;  the  official  demand  has 
been  granted.  You  see  before  you  the  happiest 
of  men  !  " 

The  days  that  followed  upon  their  betrothal 
were  days  of  enchantment  for  the  young  couplC; 
now  freed  from  all  preoccupation  and  constraint. 
One  met  them  daily,  motoring  along  the  pictur- 
esque roads  of  the  Basque  country  or  walking 
through  the  streets  of  Biarritz,  stopping  before 
the  shop-windows,  at  the  photographer's  or  at  the 
pastry-cook's. 

"  Do  you  know,  Paoli,"  said  the  King  to  me 
one  day,  "  I've  changed  the  princess's  name  ? 
Instead  of  calling  her  Ena,  which  I  don't  like,  I 
call  her  Nini.     That's  very  Parisian,  isn't  it  ?  " 

The  royal  lover,  as  I  have  already  said,  prided 
himself  with  justice  on  his  Parisianism. 

It  will  readily  be  imagined  that  the  protection 
of  the  King  was  not  always  an  easy  matter. 
True,  it  was  understood  that  I  should  invariably 
be  told  beforehand  of  the  programme  of  the  day ; 
but  the  plans  would  be  changed  an  hour  later; 
and,  when  the  young  couple  had  once  set  out  at 
random,  nothing  was  more  difficult  than  to  catch 
them  up. 

I  remember  one  morning  when  the  King  in- 
formed me  that  he  did  not  intend  to  go  out  that 
day.  I  thereupon  determined  to  give  myself  a 
few  hours'  rest.  I  had  returned  to  my  hotel  and 
was  beginning  to  enjoy  the  unaccustomed  sense 
of  repose,  when  the  telephone-bell  rang  : 

"  The  King  and  the  princess  have  gone  out," 
66 


KING   ALFONSO   XIII 

said  the  voice  of  one  of  my  detectives.     "  It's 
impossible  to  find  them." 

Greatly  alarmed,  I  was  hurrying  to  the  Villa 
Mom'iscot,  when,  at  a  bend  in  the  road,  I  saw  the 
fugitives  themselves  before  me,  accompanied  by 
Princess  Beatrice. 

"  I  say  !  "  cried  the  King,  in  great  glee.  "  We 
gave  your  inspector  the  slip  !  " 

And,  as  I  was  venturing  to  utter  a  discreet 
reproach  : 

"  Don't  be  angry  with  us,  M.  Paoli,"  the 
princess  broke  in,  very  prettily.  "  The  King 
isn't  frightened ;  no  more  am  I.  Who  would 
think  of  hurting  us  ?  " 

The  great  delight  of  Alfonso,  who  is  very 
playfully  inclined,  was  to  hoax  people  that  did 
not  know  who  he  was.  One  day,  motoring 
into  Cambo,  the  delicious  village  near  which 
M.  Edmond  Rostand's  property  lies,  he  entered 
the  post-office  to  send  off  some  cards.  Seeing 
the  woman  in  charge  of  the  office  taking  the  air 
outside  the  door  : 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  madame,"  he  said,  very 
politely.  "  Could  you  tell  me  if  the  King  of 
Spain  is  expected  here  to-day  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know  anything  about  it,"  said  the 
little  post-mistress,  in  an  off-hand  manner. 

"  Don't  you  know  him  by  sight  ?  " 

"  No." 

"  Oh,  really  !  They  say  he's  very  nice  :  not 
exactl)^  handsome,  but  quite  charming,  for  all 
that." 

F2  67 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

The  good  lady,  of  course,  suspected  nothing; 
but,  when  the  King  handed  her  his  postcards,  it 
goes  without  saying  that  she  at  once  read  the 
superscriptions  and  saw  that  they  were  addressed 
to  the  Queen  Mother  at  San  Sebastian,  to  the 
Infanta  Dona  Paz,  to  the  Infanta  Maria  Teresa, 
to  tlie  prime  minister : 

"  Wliy,  it's  the  King  himself  !  "  she  exclaimed, 
quite  overcome. 

Alfonso  XIII.  was  already  far  on  his 
road. 

The  most  amusing  adventure,  however,  was 
that  which  he  had  at  Dax.  One  morning,  he 
took  it  into  his  head  to  motor  to  the  parched 
and  desolate  country  of  the  Landes,  which  stretch 
from  Bayonne  to  Bordeaux.  After  a  long  and 
wearing  drive,  he  decided  to  take  the  train  back 
from  Dax.  Accompanied  by  his  friend  Senor 
Quihones  de  Leon,  he  made  for  the  station,  where 
the  two  young  men,  tired  out  and  streaming 
with  perspiration,  sat  down  in  the  refreshment- 
room. 

"  Give  us  some  lunch,  please,"  said  the  King, 
who  was  ravenously  hungry,  to  the  lady  at  the 
bar. 

The  refreshment-room,  unfortunately,  was  very 
scantily  supplied.  When  the  two  travelling- 
companions  had  eaten  up  the  sorry  fare  repre- 
sented by  a  few  eggs  and  sandwiches,  which  had 
probably  been  waiting  more  than  a  month  for  a 
traveller  to  arrive  and  take  a  fancy  to  them,  the 
King,  whose  appetite  was  far  from  being  satisfied, 
68 


KING   ALFONSO   XIII 

called  the  barmaid,  a  fat  and  matronly  Bearnaise, 
with  an  upper  lip  adorned  with  a  pair  of  thick 
mustachios. 

"  Have  you  nothing  else  to  give  us  ?  "  he 
asked. 

"  I  have  a  pate  de  foie  gras,  but  .  .  .  it's  very 
expensive,"  said  the  decent  creature,  whose 
perspicacity  did  not  go  to  the  length  of  seeing  a 
serious  customer  in  this  famished  and  dusty  young 
man. 

"  Never  mind,  let's  have  it,"  said  the  King. 

The  woman  brought  her  pdtc\  which  was  none 
too  fresh ;  but  how  great  was  her  amazement  when 
she  saw  the  two  travellers  devour  not  only  the 
liver,  but  the  fat  as  well  !  The  pot  was  emptied 
and  scraped  clean  in  the  twinkling  of  an 
eye. 

Pleased  with  her  successful  morning's  trade 
and  encouraged  by  the  King's  ebullient  good- 
humour,  the  barmaid  sat  down  at  the  royal 
table,  began  to  tell  the  King  her  family  affairs 
and  questioned  him  with  motherly  solicitude. 
When,  at  last,  the  hour  of  departure  struck,  they 
shook  hands  with  each  other  warmly. 

Some  time  afterwards,  the  King  was  passing 
through  Dax  by  rail  and,  as  the  train  steamed 
into  the  station,  said  to  me  : 

"  I  have  an  acquaintance  at  Dax.  I'll  show 
her  to  you  :  she  is  charming." 

The  buxom  Bearnaise  was  there,  more  mus- 
tachioed than  ever.  I  will  not  attempt  to 
describe  her  comic  bewilderment  at  recognizing 

69 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

her  former  customer  in  the  person  of  the  King. 
He  was  delighted  and,  giving  her  his  hand  : 

"  You  won't  refuse  to  say  how-do-you-do  to 
me,  I  hope  ?  "  he  asked,  laughing. 

The  incident  turned  her  head ;  what  was  bound 
to  happen  happened  :  she  became  indiscreet. 
From  that  time  onwards,  she  looked  into  every 
train  that  stopped  at  Dax,  to  see  if  "  her  friend  " 
the  King  was  among  the  passengers ;  and,  when, 
instead  of  stepping  on  the  platform,  he  satis- 
fied himself  with  giving  her  a  friendly  little 
nod  from  behind  the  pane,  she  felt  immensely 
disappointed  :  in  fact,  she  was  even  a  little 
offended. 

The  Cambo  post-mistress  and  the  Dax  bar- 
maid are  not  the  only  people  who  can  boast  of 
having  been  taken  in  by  Alfonso  XIII.  His 
waggery  was  sometimes  let  loose  upon  grave  and 
serious  men.  .  .  .  Dr.  Moure,  of  Bordeaux,  who 
attended  the  young  monarch  for  his  operation 
on  the  nose,  has  a  story  to  tell.  He  was  sent 
for,  one  day,  to  San  Sebastian  and  was  wait- 
ing for  his  illustrious  patient  in  a  room  at  the 
Miramar  Palace,  when  the  door  opened  quickly 
and  there  entered  a  most  respectable  lady,  dressed 
in  silk  flounces  and  wearing  a  wig  and  spectacles. 
Not  having  the  honour  of  her  acquaintance,  the 
doctor  made  a  deep  bow,  to  which  she  replied 
with  a  stately  curtsy.  . 

"  It  must  be  the  camerera-major,''^  he  thought 
to  himself.    "  She  looks  tremendously  eighteenth- 
century." 
70 


KING   ALFONSO   XIII 

But  suddenly  a  great  burst  of  laughter  shook 
the  venerable  dowager's  frame  from  head  to  foot, 
her  spectacles  fell  from  her  nose,  her  wig  dropped 
off  likewise,  and  a  clarion  voice  cried  : 

"  Good-morning,  doctor  !     It's  I !  " 

It  was  the  King. 

The  chapter  of  anecdotes  is  inexhaustible. 
And  it  is  not  difficult  to  picture  how  this  playful 
simplicity,  combined  with  a  delicacy  of  feeling 
and  a  knightly  grace,  to  which,  in  our  age  of  brutal 
realism,  we  are  no  longer  accustomed,  made  an 
utter  conquest  of  the  pretty  English  princess. 
When,  after  several  days  of  familiar  and  daily 
intimacy,  it  became  necessary  to  say  good-bye — 
the  princess  was  returning  to  England  to  busy 
herself  with  preparations  for  her  marriage,  Alfonso 
to  Madrid  for  the  same  reason — when  the  moment 
of  separation  had  come,  there  was  a  pang  at  the 
heart  on  both  sides.  And,  as  I  was  leaving  with 
the  princess  for  Paris  : 

"  You're  a  lucky  man,  M.  Paoli,  to  be  going 
with  the  princess,"  said  the  King,  sadly,  as  I 
stepped  into  the  railway-carriage.  "  I'd  give 
anything  to  be  in  your  place  !  " 


While  the  court  of  Spain  was  employed  in 
fettling,,  down  to  the  smallest  particular,  the 
ceremonial  for  the  King's  approaching  wedding, 
Princess  Ena  was  absorbed,  at  one  and  the  same 
time,  in  the  charming  details  of  her  trousseau 

71 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

and  in  the  more  austere  preparations  for  her 
conversion  to  Catholicism.  This  conversion,  as 
I  have  ah'eady  said,  was  a  sine  qua  non  to  the 
consent  of  Spain  to  her  marriage. 

The  princess  and  her  mother,  accompanied  by 
Miss  Cochrane  and  Lord  William  Cecil,  went  and 
stayed  at  an  hotel  at  Versailles  for  the  period 
of  religious  instruction  which  precedes  the  ad- 
mission of  a  neophyte  within  the  pale  of  the 
Roman  Church ;  and  it  was  at  Versailles,  on  a 
cold  February  morning,  that  she  abjured  her 
Protestantism  in  one  of  the  smaller  chapels  of 
the  cathedral. 

The  last  months  of  the  winter  of  1906  were 
spent  by  the  engaged  pair  in  eager  expectation 
of  the  great  event  that  was  to  unite  them  for 
good  and  in  the  manifold  occupations  which  this 
event  involved.  The  date  of  the  wedding  was 
fixed  for  the  31st  of  May.  A  few  days  before 
that,  I  went  to  Calais  to  meet  the  princess.  It 
was  as  though  Nature,  in  her  charming  vernal 
awakening,  was  smiling  upon  the  royal  bride  and 
had  hastily  decked  herself  in  her  best  to  greet  the 
young  princess.  But  the  princess  saw  nothing  : 
she  had  bidden  a  last  farewell  to  her  country,  her 
family,  and  her  home  ;  and,  despite  the  happiness 
that  called  her,  the  fond  memory  of  all  that  she 
was  quitting  oppressed  her  heart. 

"It  is  nothing,  M.  Paoli,"  she  said,  when  I 
asked  the  cause  of  her  sadness,  "it  is  nothing; 
I  cannot  help  feeling  a  little  touched  when  I 
think  that  I  am  leaving  the  country  where  I 
72 


KING   ALFONSO  XIII 

have  spent  so  many  liappy  years  to  go  towards 
the  unknown." 

She  did  not  sleep  that  night.  ...  At  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  she  was  up  and  dressed, 
ready  to  appear  before  her  future  husband, 
before  the  nation  that  was  waiting  to  welcome 
her,  while  the  King,  at  the  same  hour,  was  striding 
up  and  down  the  platform  at  Irun,  in  a  fever  of 
excitement,  peering  into  the  night  so  as  to  be  the 
first  to  see  the  yellow  gleams  of  the  train  and 
nervously  lighting  cigarette  upon  cigarette  to 
calm  his  impatience. 

Then  came  the  whirlwind  of  festivals,  at  which 
the  King  invited  me  to  be  present ;  the  sumptuous 
magnificence  of  the  marriage  ceremony  in  the 
ancient  church  of  Los  Geronimos.  ...  It  was 
as  though  the  old  court  of  Spain  had  regained 
its  pomp  of  the  days  of  long  ago.  Once  more, 
the  streets,  all  dressed  with  flags,  were  filled  with 
antiquated  chariots,  with  heraldic  costumes,  with 
glittering  uniforms;  from  the  balconies,  draped 
with  precious  stuffs,  flowers  fell  in  torrents ;  cheers 
rose  from  the  serried  ranks  of  the  crowd ;  an  in- 
tense, noisy,  mad  gaiety  reigned  in  all  men's 
eyes,  on  all  men's  lips,  while,  from  behind 
the  windows  of  the  state-coach  that  carried 
her  to  the  church,  the  surprised  and  delighted 
princess,  forgetting  her  fleeting  melancholy,  now 
smiled  her  acknowledgments  of  this  mighty 
welcome. 

A  tragic  incident  was  fated  brutally  to  interrupt 
her  fair  young  dream, 

73 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

Finding  no  seat  in  the  church  of  Los  Geronimos, 
the  dimensions  of  whicli  are  quite  small,  I  took 
refuge  in  one  of  the  Court  stands  erected  along 
the  route  taken  by  the  sovereigns;  and  I  was 
watching  the  procession  pass,  on  its  return  to  the 
palace,  when  my  ears  were  suddenly  deafened  by 
a  tremendous  explosion.  ...  At  first  no  one 
realized  where  it  came  from  ...  we  thought 
that  it  was  the  report  of  a  cannon-shot  fired  to 
announce  the  end  of  the  ceremony.  .  .  .  But 
suddenly  loud  yells  arose,  people  hustled  one 
another  and  rushed   away  madly,   shouting  : 

"  It's  murder  !  It's  murder!  The  King  and 
Queen  are  killed  !  " 

Terrified,  I  tried  to  hasten  to  the  street  from 
which  the  cries  came.  A  file  of  soldiers,  drawn 
up  across  the  roadway,  stopped  me.  I  then  ran 
to  the  palace,  where  I  arrived  at  exactly  the  same 
moment  as  the  royal  coach,  from  which  the  King 
and  the  young  Queen  alighted.  They  were  pale, 
but  calm.  The  King  held  his  wife's  hand  tenderly 
in  his  own  and  stared  in  dismay  at  the  long  white 
train  of  her  bridal  dress,  stained  with  great 
splashes  of  blood.  Filled  with  horror,  I  went  up 
to  Alfonso  XIII.  : 

"Oh,  Sir,"  I  cried,  "at  least,  both  of  you  are 
safe  and  sound  !  " 

"  Yes,"  he  replied.  Then,  lowering  his  voice, 
he  added,  "But  there  are  some  killed.  Poor 
people  !  .  .  .  What  an  infamous  thing  !  " 

Under  her  great  white  veil,  the  Queen,  standing 
between  Queen  Maria  Christina  and  the  Princess 
74 


KING   ALFONSO   XIII 

Henry  of  Battenberg,  still  both  trembling, 
wept  silent  tears.  Then  the  King,  profoundly 
moved,  drew  nearer  to  her  and  kissed  her 
slowly  on  the  cheek,  whispering  these  charming 
words : 

"  I  do  hope  that  you  are  not  angry  with  me  for 
the  emotion  which  I  have  all  involuntarily  caused 
you  ?  " 

What  she  replied  I  did  not  hear  :  I  only  saw  a 
kiss. 

Notwithstanding  the  warm  manifestations  of 
loyalty  which  the  people  of  Spain  lavished  upon 
their  sovereigns  on  the  following  day,  Queen 
Victoria  is  said  to  have  been  long  haunted  by  the 
horrible  spectacle  which  she  had  beheld  and  to 
have  retained  an  intense  feeling  of  terror  and 
sadness  arising  from  that  tragic  hour.  But,  God 
be  praised,  everything  passes.  .  .  .  When,  later, 
I  had  the  honour  of  again  finding  myself  in  attend- 
ance upon  the  King  and  Queen,  at  Biarritz  and 
in  Paris,  I  recognized  once  more  the  happy  and 
loving  young  couple  whom  I  had  known  at  the 
time  of  their  engagement.  Alfonso  XIII.  had 
the  same  gaiety,  the  same  high  spirits  as  before ; 
and  the  Queen's  mind  seemed  to  show  no  trace  of 
painful  memories. 

In  the  course  of  the  first  journey  which  I  took 
with  them,  a  year  after  the  murderous  attempt  in 
Madrid,  the  King  himself  acquainted  me  with  the 
real  cause  of  this  happy  equanimity  so  promptly 
recovered.  Walking  into  the  compartment  where 
I  was  sitting,  he  lifted  high  into  the  air  a  pink  and 

75 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

chubby  child  and,  holding  it  up  for  me  to  look  at, 
said,   with   more   than   a  touch   of   pride   in  his 

voice  : 

"  There  !     What  do  you  think  of  him  ?     Isn't 

he  splendid  ?  " 


76 


CHAPTER   III 

THE    SHAH    OF    PERSIA 


Must  I  confess  it  ?  When  I  heard,  a  few  weeks 
before  the  opening  of  the  International  Exhibition 
of  1900,  that  I  was  to  have  the  honour  of  being 
attached  to  the  person  of  Muzaffr-ed-Din,  King 
of  Kings  and  Shall  of  Persia,  during  the  whole 
length  of  the  official  visit  which  he  contemplated 
paying  to  Paris,  I  did  not  welcome  the  news 
with  the  alacrity  which  it  ought  perhaps  to  have 
provoked. 

And  yet  I  had  no  reason  to  be  prejudiced 
against  this  monarch  :  I  did  not  even  know  him. 
My  apprehensions  were  grounded  on  more  remote 
causes  :  I  recalled  the  memories  which  a  former 
Shah,  his  predecessor,  had  left  among  us.  Nasr- 
ed-Din  was  a  strange  and  capricious  sovereign, 
who  had  never  succeeded  in  making  up  his  mind, 
when  he  came  to  Europe,  to  leave  the  manners 
and  customs  of  his  native  land  behind  him  or 
to  lay  aside  the  troublesome  fancies  in  which  his 
reckless  despotism  delighted  to  indulge.  Was  it 
not  related  of  him  that,  while  staying  in  the 
country,  in   France,  he  caused   a  sheep  or  two 

77 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

to  be  sacrificed  every  morning  in  his  bedroom, 
in  order  to  ensure  the  prophet's  clemency  until 
the  evening ;  and  that  he  had  the  amiable  habit 
of  buying  anything  that  took  his  fancy,  but 
neglecting  to  pay  the  bill  ? 

Lastly,  this  very  delicious  story  was  told 
about  him.  The  Shah  had  asked  whether  he 
could  not,  by  way  of  amusement,  be  present  at 
an  execution  of  capital  punishment  during  one 
of  his  stays  in  Paris.  It  so  happened  that  an 
occasion  offered.  He  was  invited  to  go,  one 
morning,  to  the  Place  de  la  Roquette,  where  the 
scaffold  had  been  erected.  He  arrived  with  his 
diamonds  and  his  suite;  but,  the  moment  he  saw 
the  condemned  man,  his  generous  heart  was  filled 
with  a  sudden  tenderness  for  the  murderer  : 

"  Not  that  one  .  .  .  the  other  !  "  he  ordered, 
pointing  to  the  public  prosecutor,  who  was 
presiding  over  the  ceremony. 

Picture  the  magistrate's  face,  while  the  Shah 
insisted  and  thought  it  discourteous  of  them  not 
at  once  to  yield  to  his  wishes. 

I  asked  myself,  therefore,  with  a  certain  dismay 
what  unpleasant  surprises  his  successor  might 
have  in  store  for  me.  He  seemed  to  me  to  come 
from  the  depths  of  a  very  old  and  mysterious 
form  of  humanity,  travelling  from  his  capital  to 
the  shores  of  Europe,  slowly,  by  easy  stages,  as 
in  the  mediaeval  times,  across  deserts  and  moun- 
tains and  blue-domed  cities  of  the  dead,  escorted 
by  a  fabulous  baggage-train  of  rare  stuffs,  of 
praying- carpets,  of  marvellous  jewels,  an  army  of 
78 


THE   SHAH   OF   PERSIA 

turbaned  horsemen,  a  swarm  of  officials,  a  harem 
of  dancing  girls  and  a  long  file  of  camels. 

I  asked  myself  whether  I,  too,  should  be  obliged 
to  assist  at  sacrifices  of  heifers  and  to  console  un- 
paid tradesmen,  only  to  end  by  being  pointed  out 
by  His  Majesty  as  a  "  substitute  "  under  the  knife 
of  the  guillotine. 

However,  I  was  needlessly  alarmed  :  in  Persia, 
thank  goodness,  the  Shahs  succeed,  but  do  not 
resemble  one  another.  I  became  fully  aware  of 
this  when  I  was  admitted  into  the  intimacy  of 
our  new  guest.  Muzaffr-ed-Din  had  nothing  in 
common  with  his  father.  He  was  an  overgrown 
child,  whose  massive  stature,  great  bushy  mous- 
tache, very  kind,  round  eyes,  prominent  stomach 
and  general  adiposity  formed  a  contrast  with  his 
backward  mental  condition  and  his  sleepy  in- 
telligence. He  had,  in  fact,  the  brain  of  a  twelve- 
year-old  schoolboy,  together  with  a  schoolboy's 
easily-aroused  astonishment,  candour  and  curio- 
sity. He  busied  himself  exclusively  with  small 
things,  the  only  things  that  excited  and  interested 
him.  He  was  gentle,  good-natured,  an  arrant 
coward,  open-handed  at  times  and  extremely 
capricious;  but  his  whims  never  went  so  far  as 
to  take  pleasure  in  the  suffering  of  others.  He 
loved  life,  was  enormously  attached  to  it,  in  fact ; 
and  he  liked  me,  too,  with  a  real  affection,  which 
was  spontaneous  and,  at  times,  touching  : 

"  Paoli,  worthy  Paoli,"  he  said  to  me  one  day, 
in  an  expansive  mood,  fixing  his  round  pupils 
upon  me,  "  you  .  .  .  my  good,  my  dear  domestic  !  " 

79 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

When  I  appeared  surprised  and  even  a  little 
offended  at  the  place  which  he  was  allotting  me 
in  the  social  scale  : 

"  His  Majesty  means  to  say,"  explained  the 
grand  vizier,  "  that  he  looks  upon  you  as  belong- 
ing to  the  family.  '  Domestic  '  in  his  mind 
means  a  friend  of  the  house,  according  to  the 
true  etymology  of  the  word,  which  is  derived 
from  the  Latin  domus.'^ 

The  intention  was  pretty  enough;  I  asked  no 
more,  remembering  that  Muzaffr-ed-Din  spoke 
French  with  difficulty  and  employed  a  sort  of 
nigger  jargon  to  express  his  thoughts. 


At  the  time  of  his  first  stay  in  Paris,  he  had  the 
privilege  of  inaugurating  the  famous  Sovereigns' 
Palace,  which  the  government  had  fitted  up  in 
the  Avenue  du  Bois  de  Boulogne  for  the  enter- 
tainment of  its  royal  visitors.  The  house  was 
a  comparatively  small  one;  on  the  other  hand, 
it  was  sumptuously  decorated.  The  national 
furniture- repository  had  sent  some  of  the  finest 
pieces  to  be  found  in  its  historic  store-rooms. 
In  fact,  I  believe  that  the  Shah  slept  in  the  bed 
of  Napoleon  I.  and  washed  his  hands  and  face 
in  the  Empress  Marie-Louise's  basin  :  things  that 
interested  him  but  little.  Great  memories  were 
a  matter  of  indifference  to  him;  he  infinitely 
preferred  futile  realities  in  the  form  of  useless 
objects,  whose  glitter  pleased  his  eye,  and  of 
80 


THE   SHAH   OF  PERSIA 

more  or  less  harmonious  sounds,  whose  vibra- 
tions tickled  his  ears. 

His  taste  in  such  matters  was  proved  on  the  day 
of  his  arrival,  by  two  immediate  decisions  :  he 
ordered  the  grand  piano  which  adorned  his  draw- 
ing-room to  be  packed  up  for  Teheran,  together 
with  the  motor-car  which  awaited  his  good  pleasure 
outside,  after  hearing  the  one,  trying  the  other, 
and  lavishly  paying  for  both.  He  would  not  be 
denied. 

His  amazement  was  great  when  he  visited  the 
exhibition  for  the  first  time.  The  wonderful 
cosmopolitan  city  that  seemed  to  have  leapt 
into  existence  in  the  space  of  one  of  the  thousand 
and  one  nights  of  the  Persian  legend  stirred  his 
eastern  imagination,  strive  though  he  might  to 
conceal  the  fact.  The  splendour  of  the  exotic 
display  exercised  an  irresistible  attraction  upon 
him;  the  glass-cases  of  jewellery  also  fascinated 
his  gaze,  although  he  himself,  doubtless  without 
realizing  it,  was  a  perambulating  shop-window 
which  any  jeweller  would  have  hankered  to  possess. 
On  his  long  Persian  tunic,  with  its  red  border 
and  its  wide,  pleated  skirt,  he  wore  a  regular 
display  of  precious  stones ;  and  one  did  not  know 
which  to  admire  most :  the  gleaming  sapphires 
that  adorned  his  shoulder-straps,  the  splendid 
emeralds,  the  exquisite  turquoises  that  studded 
the  baldrick  and  the  gold  scabbard  of  his  sword, 
the  four  enormous  rubies  that  took  the  place 
of  buttons  on  his  uniform,  or  the  dazzling  and 
formidable  diamond,  the  famous  Daria-Nour, 
G  81 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

or  Sea  of  Light,  fastened  to  his  khola,  the 
traditional  head-dress,  whence  a  quivering  aig- 
rette in  brilhants  sprang  hke  a  fountain  of  hght. 
Thus  decked  out,  Muzaffr-ed-Din  was  valued  at 
thirty-four  million  francs  net ;  and,  even  then,  he 
was  far  from  carrying  the  whole  of  his  fortune 
upon  his  person  :  I  have  in  fact  been  assured 
that,  in  the  depths  of  the  iron  trunk  of  which  four 
vigilant  Persians  had  the  keeping,  there  slumbered 
as  many  precious  stones  again,  no  less  fine  than 
the  others  and  content  to  undergo  the  rigour  of  a 
temporary  disgrace.  At  all  events,  in  the  guise  in 
which  he  showed  himself  in  public,  he  was  enough 
to  excite  the  admiring  curiosity  of  the  crowd. 

In  his  solemn  walks  through  the  various 
sections  of  the  exhibition,  where  my  modest 
frock-coat  looked  drab  and  out  of  place  among 
the  glittering  uniforms,  he  was  attended  by  the 
grand  vizier,  the  only  dignitary  entitled,  by  the 
etiquette  of  the  Persian  court,  to  carry  a  cane 
in  the  presence  of  his  sovereign,  who  himself 
always  leant  upon  a  stick  made  of  some  precious 
wood.  Nothing  could  damp  his  eagerness  to 
know,  to  see,  and  to  buy  things.  He  bought 
everything  indifferently  :  musical  instruments, 
old  tapestries,  a  set  of  table-cutlery,  a  panorama, 
a  "  new  art  "  ring,  a  case  of  pistols.  He  looked, 
touched,  weighed  the  thing  in  his  hand  and  then, 
raising  his  forefinger,  said,  "  Je  prends,^^  while 
the  delighted  exhibitor,  greatly  touched  and 
impressed,  took  down  the  order  and  the  address. 

Nevertheless,  Muzaffr-ed-Din  was  not  so  rich 
82 


THE   SHAH   OF   PERSIA 

as  one  would  be  inclined  to  think.  Each  time, 
in  fact,  that  he  came  to  Europe,  where  he 
spent  fabulous  sums,  he  procured  the  money 
needed  for  his  journey,  not  only  by  raising  a 
loan,  generally  in  Russia,  but  also  by  a  method 
which  was  both  ingenious  and  businesslike. 
Before  leaving  his  possessions,  he  summoned  his 
chief  officers  of  State  —  ministers,  provincial 
governors  and  the  like — and  proposed  the  fol- 
lowing bargain  to  them  :  those  who  wished  to 
form  part  of  his  suite  must  first  pay  him  a  sum 
of  money  which  he  valued  in  accordance  with 
the  importance  of  their  functions.  It  varied  be- 
tween 50,000  and  300,000  francs.  In  return,  he 
authorized  them  to  recoup  themselves  for  this 
advance  in  any  way  they  pleased.  Here  we  find 
the  explanation  of  the  large  number  of  persons 
who  accompanied  the  Shah  on  his  travels  and  the 
quaint  and  unexpected  titles  which  they  bore, 
such  as  that  of  "  minister  of  the  dock-yard," 
though  Persia  has  never  owned  a  navy,  and  one 
still  more  extraordinary,  that  of  "  attorney-general 
to  the  heir-apparent."  Although  these  gentry 
sometimes  had  romantic  souls,  they  invariably  pos- 
sessed terribly  practical  minds.  Eager  to  recover 
as  quickly  as  possible  the  outlay  to  which  their 
ambition  to  behold  the  west  had  induced  them 
to  consent,  they  practised  on  a  huge  scale  and 
without  scruple  or  hesitation  what  I  may  de- 
scribe as  the  bonus  or  commission  system.  Not- 
withstanding my  long  experience  of  human 
frailties,  I  confess  that  this  proceeding,  cynically 

G2  83 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

raised  to  the  level  of  an  institution,  upset 
all  my  notions,  while  it  explained  how  the 
Shah  was  able  to  spend  eight  to  twelve  million 
francs  in  pocket-money  on  each  of  his  trips 
to  France. 

As  soon  as  the  people  about  him  knew  what 
shops  His  Majesty  proposed  to  visit  in  the  course 
of  his  daily  drives,  a  bevy  of  courtiers  would 
swoop  down  upon  each  awestruck  tradesman 
and  imperiously  insist  upon  his  promising  them 
a  big  commission,  in  exchange  for  which  they 
undertook  to  prevail  upon  His  Majesty  graciously 
to  honour  the  establishment  with  his  custom. 
The  shopkeeper,  as  a  rule,  raised  no  objection  : 
he  was  quite  content  to  increase  the  price  in 
proportion ;  and,  when  the  good  Shah,  accom- 
panied by  his  vizier,  presented  himself  a  few 
hours  later  in  the  shop,  his  suite  praised  the 
goods  of  the  house  so  heartily  that  he  never 
failed  to  let  fall  the  time-honoured  phrase,  "  Je 
prends,'^  so  as  to  give  no  one  even  the  slightest 
pain  or  trouble.  Nor,  for  that  matter,  did  any  of 
those  round  him  dream  of  making  a  secret  of 
the  traffic  in  which  they  indulged  behind  their 
sovereign's  back  :  it  was  a  right  duly  acquired 
and  paid  for. 

I  am  bound  to  say,  however,  that  the  grand 
vizier — no  doubt  because  he  was  already  too 
well-off — appeared  to  be  above  these  sordid  and 
venal  considerations.  This  important  personage, 
whose  name  on  the  occasion  in  question  was  His 
Highness  the  Sadrazani  Mirza  Ali  Asghar  Khan 
84 


THE   SHAH   OF   PERSIA 

Emin  es  Sultan,  combined  an  acute  understanding 
with  a  superior  cast  of  mind ;  the  Shall  showed 
him  the  greatest  affection  and  treated  him  as  a 
friend.  These  marks  of  special  kindness  were 
due  to  curious  causes,  which  an  amiable  Persian 
was  good  enough  to  reveal  to  me.  It  appears 
that,  when  the  late  Shah  Nasr-ed-Din  was  shot 
dead  at  the  mosque  where  he  was  making  a 
pilgrimage,  the  grand  vizier  of  the  time,  who 
was  none  other  than  this  same  Mirza  Ali  Asghar 
Khan,  pretended  that  the  Shah's  wound  was  not 
serious,  had  the  corpse  seated  in  the  carriage  and 
drove  back  to  the  palace  beside  it,  acting  as  if 
he  were  talking  to  his  sovereign,  fanning  him 
and  asking  at  intervals  for  water  to  quench  his 
thirst,  as  though  he  were  still  alive. 

The  death  was  not  acknowledged  till  some  days 
later.  In  this  way,  the  vizier  gave  the  heir- 
apparent,  the  present  Shah,  time  to  return  from 
Tauris  and  avoided  the  grave  troubles  that  would 
certainly  have  arisen  had  the  truth  been  known. 
Muzaffr-ed-Din  owed  his  crown  and  perhaps  his 
life  to  his  grand  vizier  :  small  wonder  that  he 
showed  him  some  gratitude. 

His  court  minister,  Mohamed  Khan,  could 
also  have  laid  claim  to  this  gratitude,  for  he 
gave  proof  of  remarkable  presence  of  mind 
at  the  time  of  the  attempted  assassination 
of  Muzaffr-ed-Din  during  his  stay  in  Paris  in 
1900. 

The  incident  is  perhaps  still  in  the  reader's 
recollection.     The  Shah,  with  the  court  minister 

85 


MY  ROYAL    CLIENTS 

seated  by  his  side,  and  General  Parent,  the  chief 
French  officer  attached  to  his  person,  facing  him, 
had  just  left  the  Sovereigns'  Palace  to  drive  to 
the  exhibition,  when  a  man  sprang  on  the  step 
of  the  open  landau,  drew  a  revolver  and  took 
aim  at  the  monarch's  chest.  Before  he  had 
time,  however,  to  pull  the  trigger,  a  hand  of  iron 
fell  upon  his  wrist  and  clutched  it  with  such 
force  that  the  man  was  compelled  to  drop  his 
weapon,  which  fell  at  the  feet  of  the  sovereign, 
while  the  would-be  murderer  was  arrested  by 
the  police.  Mohamed  Khan,  by  this  opportune 
and  energetic  interference,  had  prevented  a  shot 
the  consequences  of  which  would  have  been 
disastrous  for  the  Shah  and  very  annoying  for 
the  French  government,  all  the  more  inasmuch 
as  the  author  of  this  attempt  was  a  French 
subject,  a  sort  of  fanatic  from  the  south,  to  whom 
tlie  recent  assassination  of  King  Humbert  of 
Italy  had  suggested  this  fantastic  plan  of  making 
away  with  the  unoffending  Muzaffr-ed-Din. 

Here  is  a  curious  detail :  I  had  that  very  morn- 
ing received  an  anonymous  letter,  dated  from 
Naples,  but  posted  in  Paris,  in  which  the  sovereign 
was  warned  that  an  attempt  would  be  made  on  his 
life.  Although  this  kind  of  communication  was  a 
very  frequent  one,  I  ordered  the  supervision  to  be 
redoubled  inside  the  palace ;  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
I  did  not  much  fear  a  surprise  outside,  as  the  Shah 
never  drove  out  but  his  carriage  was  surrounded 
by  a  detachment  of  cavalry.  Now  ill-luck  would 
have  it  that  he  took  it  into  his  head,  that  day, 
86 


THE   SHAH   OF  PERSIA 

to  go  out  before  the  time  which  he  himself  had 
fixed  and  without  waiting  for  the  arrival  of  the 
escort  :  I  have  shown  the  result. 

During  the  whole  of  this  tragic  scene,  which 
lasted  only  a  few  seconds,  he  did  not  utter  a 
single  word;  the  pallor  which  overspread  his 
cheeks  alone  betrayed  his  emotion  :  nevertheless, 
he  ordered  the  coachman  to  drive  on.  When,  at 
last,  they  reached  the  Champs  Elysees  and  he 
perceived  numerous  groups  waiting  to  cheer  him, 
he   emerged  from  his  stupor  : 

"Is  it  going  to  happen  again  ?  "  he  cried,  in 
accents  of  terror. 


He  was,  in  fact,  given  to  easy  and  strange  fits 
of  alarm.  He  always  carried  a  loaded  pistol  in 
his  trousers-pocket,  though  he  never  used  it.  On 
one  of  his  journeys  in  France,  he  even  took  it 
into  his  head  to  make  a  high  court-official  walk 
before  him  when  he  left  the  theatre,  carrying  a 
revolver  pointed  at  the  peaceable  sightseers  who 
had  gathered  to  see  him  come  out.  As  soon  as 
I  perceived  this,  I  ran  up  to  the  threatening 
bodyguard  : 

"  Put  that  revolver  away,"  I  said.  "It's  not 
the  custom  here." 

But  I  had  to  insist  pretty  roughly  before  he 
consented  to  sheathe  his  weapon. 

The  Shah,   for  that  matter,  was  no  less  dis- 

87 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

trustful  of  his  own  subjects;  in  fact  I  observed 
that,  when  the  Persians  were  in  his  presence, 
they  adopted  a  uniform  attitude,  which  con- 
sisted in  holding  their  hands  crossed  on  their 
stomachs,  no  doubt  as  evidence  of  their  harmless 
intentions. 

For  the  rest,  his  "  alarms  "  displayed  them- 
selves under  the  most  diverse  aspects  and  in  the 
most  unexpected  circumstances.  For  instance, 
there  was  no  persuading  him  ever  to  ascend  the 
Eiffel  Tower.  The  disappointment  of  his  guides 
was  increased  by  the  fact  that  he  would  come  as 
far  as  the  foot  of  the  pillars ;  they  always  thought 
that  he  meant  to  go  up.  But  no  :  once  below 
the  immense  iron  framework,  he  gazed  up  in  the 
air,  examined  the  lifts,  flung  a  timid  glance  at 
the  staircase,  then  suddenly  turned  on  his  heels 
and  walked  away.  They  told  him  in  vain  that 
his  august  father  had  ascended  as  far  as  the 
first  floor;  nothing  could  induce  him  to  do  as 
much. 

Again,  I  remember  a  day — it  was  at  the  time 
of  his  second  stay  in  Paris — when,  on  entering 
his  drawing-room,  I  found  him  wearing  a  very 
careworn  air. 

"  Paoli,"  he  said,  taking  my  hand  and  leading 
me  to  the  window,  "  look  !  " 

Look  as  I  might,  I  saw  nothing  out  of  the  way. 
Down  below,  three  bricklayers  stood  on  the 
pavement,  talking  quietly  together. 

"  What  !  "  said  the  Shah.  "  Don't  you  see 
those  men  standing  still,  down  there  ?  They  have 
88 


THE   SHAH   OF   PERSIA 

been  there  for  an  hour,  talking  and  watching  my 
window.     Paoli,  they  want  to  kill  me!  " 

Repressing  a  strong  desire  to  laugh,  I  resolved 
to  reassure  our  guest  with  a  lie  : 

"  Why,  I  know  them  !  "  I  replied.  "  I  know 
their  names  :  they  are  decent  working-men." 

Muzaffr-ed-Din's  face  lit  up  at  once  : 

"  You  seem  to  know  everybody,"  he  said, 
giving  me  a  grateful  look. 

The  most  amusing  incident  was  that  which 
happened  on  the  occasion  of  an  experiment  with 
radium.  I  had  described  to  the  sovereign,  in 
the  course  of  conversation,  the  wonderful  dis- 
covery which  our  great  savant,  M.  Curie,  had 
just  made,  a  discovery  that  was  likely  to  revolu- 
tionize science.  The  Shah  was  extremely  inter- 
ested in  my  story  and  repeatedly  expressed  a 
desire  to  be  shown  the  precious  magic  stone. 
Professor  Curie  was  informed  accordingly  and,  in 
spite  of  his  stress  of  work,  agreed  to  come  to  the 
filysee  Palace  Hotel  and  give  an  exhibition. 
As,  however,  complete  darkness  was  needed  for 
radium  to  be  admired  in  all  its  brilliancy,  I  had 
with  endless  trouble  persuaded  the  King  of  Kings 
to  come  down  to  one  of  the  hotel  cellars  arranged 
for  the  purpose.  At  the  appointed  time,  His 
Majesty  and  all  his  suite  proceeded  to  the  under- 
ground apartment  in  question.  Professor  Curie 
closed  the  door,  switched  off  the  electric  light  and 
uncovered  his  specimen  of  radium,  when  sud- 
denly a  shout  of  terror,  resembling  at  one  and 
the  same  time  the  roar  of  a  bull  and  the  yell  of 

89 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

a  man  who  is  being  murdered,  rang  out,  followed 
by  hundreds  of  similar  cries.  .  .  .  Amid  general 
excitement  and  consternation,  we  flung  ourselves 
upon  the  electric  switches,  turned  on  the  lights 
and  beheld  a  strange  sight :  in  the  midst  of  the 
prostrate  Persians  stood  the  Shah,  his  arms 
clinging  to  the  neck  of  his  howling  grand  vizier, 
his  round  pupils  dilated  to  their  rims,  while  he 
shouted,  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  in  Persian  : 

"  Come  away  !     Come  away  !  " 

The  switching  on  of  the  light  calmed  this  mad 
anguish  as  though  by  magic.  Realizing  the 
disappointment  which  he  had  caused  M.  Curie,  he 
tried  to  offer  him  a  decoration  by  way  of  com- 
pensation ;  but  the  austere  man  of  science  thought 
fit  to  decline  it. 

The  instinctive  dread  of  darkness  and  solitude 
was  so  keen  in  the  Persian  monarch  that  he 
required  his  bedroom  to  be  filled  during  the 
night  with  light  and  sound.  Accordingly,  every 
evening,  as  soon  as  he  had  lain  down  and  closed 
his  eyes,  the  members  of  his  suite  gathered 
round  his  bed,  lit  all  the  candles  and  exchanged 
their  impressions  aloud,  while  young  nobles  of 
the  court,  relieving  one  another  in  pairs,  con- 
scientiously patted  his  arms  and  legs  with  little 
light,  sharp,  regular  taps.  The  King  of  Kings 
imagined  that  he  was  in  this  way  keeping  death 
at  a  distance,  if  perchance  it  should  take  a  fancy 
to  visit  him  in  his  sleep  .  .  .  and  the  extraordinary 
thing  is  that  he  did  sleep,  notwithstanding  all 
this  massage,  light  and  noise. 
90 


THE   SHAH   OF  PERSIA 


The  need  which  he  felt  of  having  people  con- 
stantly around  him,  and  of  reproducing  the 
atmosphere  of  his  distant  country  wherever  he 
fixed  his  temporary  residence,  was  reflected  in 
the  picturesque  and  singularly  animated  aspect 
which  the  hotel  or  palace  at  which  he  elected 
to  stay  assumed  soon  after  his  installation.  It 
was  promptly  transformed  into  a  vast,  exotic 
caravanserai,  presenting  the  appearance  of  a 
French  fair  combined  with  that  of  an  eastern 
bazaar.  The  house  was  taken  possession  of  by 
its  new  occupants  from  the  kitchens,  ruled  over 
by  the  Persian  master-cook,  who  prepared  the 
monarch's  dishes,  to  the  attics,  where  the  lower 
servants  were  accommodated.  One  saw  nothing 
but  figures  in  dark  tunics  and  astrakhan  caps, 
squatting  in  the  passages  and  leaning  over  the 
staircases;  along  the  corridors  and  in  the  halls, 
the  shopkeepers  had  improvised  stalls  as  at 
Teheran,  in  the  hope  that  the  monarch  would 
let  fall  from  his  august  lips  in  passing  the  "  Je 
prends "  that  promised  wealth.  ...  In  the 
uncouth  crowd  which  the  desire  of  provoking  and 
hearing  that  blissful  phrase  attracted  to  the 
waiting-rooms  of  the  hotel,  all  the  professions 
rubbed  shoulders  promiscuously  :  curiosity- 
dealers,  unsuccessful  inventors,  collectors  of 
autographs  and  postage-stamps,  ruined  finan- 
ciers, charlatans,  unknown  artists. 

91 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

Their  numbers  had  increased  so  greatly,  on  the 
faith  of  the  legend  that  the  Shah's  treasures 
were  inexhaustible,  that  a  radical  step  had  to  be 
taken  :  when  Muzaffr-ed-Din  returned  to  Paris  in 
1902  and  1905,  the  applicants  for  favours  were 
forbidden  to  resume  their  little  manoeuvre. 
Thereupon  they  changed  their  tactics  :  they  sat 
down  and  wrote. 

I  have  kept  these  letters,  which  the  Shah  never 
read  and  which  his  secretary  handed  me  regularly 
without  having  read  them  either.  They  arrived 
by  each  post  in  shoals.  One  could  easily  make 
a  volume  of  them  which  would  provide  psycho- 
logists with  a  very  curious  study  of  the  human 
soul  and  mind.  Among  those  poor  letters  are 
many  obscure,  touching,  comic,  candid  and 
cynical  specimens ;  some  also  are  absurd ;  others 
imprudent  or  sad.  Most  of  them  are  signed ;  and 
among  the  signatures  of  these  requests  for  assist- 
ance are  names  which  one  is  surprised  to  find 
there.  ...  I  must  be  permitted  to  suppress  these 
names  and  limit  myself,  in  this  mad  orgy  of 
epistolary  literature,  to  reproducing  the  most 
typical  of  the  letters  that  fell  under  my  eyes. 

First,  a  few  specimens  of  the  "  comic  "  note  : 

*'  To    His    Majesty    Muzaffr-ed-Din,     Shah     of 
Persia. 
"  Your  Majesty, 

"  Knowing  that  you  look  kindly  upon 
French  requests,  I  venture  to  address  these  few 
lines  to  you.  I  am  expecting  my  sister,  Mile. 
92 


THE   SHAH   OF   PERSIA 

Grampel,  who  has  a  situation  in  Russia;  as  she 
is  ill,  I  would  like  her  to  remain  in  France.  For 
us  to  live  together,  I  should  have  to  start  a 
business  with  a  capital  of  3,000  to  5,000  francs, 
which  I  do  not  possess  and  which  I  cannot 
possibly  hnd.     I  am  58  years  of  age. 

"  In  the  hope  that  you  will  lend  a  favourable 
ear  to  my  request,  I  am, 

"  Your  Majesty's  most  humble  servant, 

"  Madame  M. 

"  P.S. — In  gratitude,  with  Your  Majesty's  per- 
mission, I  would  place  a  sign  representing  Your 
Majesty  over  the  shop-front." 

"  Sire, 

"  The  feeling  that  prompts  me  to  write  to 
you,  O  noble  King,  is  the  love  which  I  feel  for 
your  country.  I  will  come  straight  to  the  point  : 
I  will  ask  you,  O  Majesty,  if  I,  a  plain  French 
subject,  may  have  a  post  of  some  kind  in  your 
ideal  kingdom. 

"  Dentist  I  am ;  a  dentist  I  would  remain,  in 
Your  Majesty's  service.  All  my  life  long,  you 
would  be  assured  of  my  complete  devotion. 

"  A  future  Persian  dentist  to  his  future  king. 

"  P.  J.  L. 

"  Pray,  Sire,  address  the  reply  to  the  poste 
restante  at  Post-office  No.  54." 

"  Great  Shah, 

"  This  missive  which  I  have  the   honour 

93 


MY  ROYAL  CLIENTS 

of  addressing  to  Your  Majesty  is  to  tell  you  that  I 
and  my  friends  Messieurs  Jules  Brunei  and  Abel 
Chenet  have  the  honour  of  offering  you  four 
bottles  of  champagne  and  two  bottles  of  claret. 

"  In  exchange,  may  we  beg  for  the  Order  of 
the  Sun  and  Lion,  which  it  would  give  us  great 
pleasure  to  receive  and  which  we  hope  that  Your 
Majesty  will  confer  upon  us  ?  We  are  French 
citizens  and  old  soldiers. 

"  We  wish  you  constant  good  health  and 
prosperity  for  your  country,  Persia.  You  can 
send  your  servant  to  fetch  the  bottles. 

''  We  have  the  honour  to  greet  you,  and  we 
remain  your  very  humble  servants,  crying  : 

"  '  Long  live  H.M.  Muzaffr-ed-Din  and  long  live 
Persia  ! ' 

"  A.  W." 

Thorigny  (on  my  way  home),  27  August,  1902. 

"  Your  Majesty, 

"  Yesterday,  Tuesday,  I  was  in  Paris, 
waiting  to  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you  leave 
your  hotel.   That  pleasure  was  not  vouchsafed  me. 

"  But,  on  the  other  hand,  a  ring  set  with  a 
diamond,  which  I  was  taking  to  be  repaired,  was 
stolen  from  me  by  a  pickpocket. 

"  This  ring  was  the  only  diamond  which  my 
wife  possessed.  In  consequence  of  the  theft,  she 
now  possesses  none. 

"  I  put  myself  the  question  whether  I  could 
not  indict  you  before  a  French  court,  as  being  the 
direct  cause  of  the  theft. 
94 


THE   SHAH   OF  PERSIA 

"  I  find  nothing  in  our  French  law-books  hkcly 
to  decide  in  my  favour. 

"  And  so  I  prefer  to  come  and  beseech  you  to 
redress  the  involuntary  injury  which  you  have 
done  me. 

"  A  choice  stone,  which  I  should  have  set  as  a 
ring,  would  make  good  all  the  damage  which  I 
have  suffered. 

"  I  am  well  aware  that  you  must  have  numerous 
and  various  requests  for  assistance.  This  is 
not  one  of  them. 

"  But  I  should  be  infinitely  grateful  to  you  if 
you  would  understand  tliat,  but  for  your  coming 
to  Paris,  I  should  not  have  been  robbed,  and  if 
you  would  kindly  send  me  a  choice  stone  to 
replace  the  one  stolen  from  me. 

"  Will  Your  Majesty  pray  receive  the  homage 
of  my  most  profound  respect  ? 

"G.  P., 
"  attorney -at-law, 
"Barbezieux  {Gironde),  France.'^ 

"  To     His     Majesty    Muzaffr-ed-Din,     Shah     of 
Persia,  Elysee  Palace   Hotel,  Paris. 

"  I  eagerly  congratulate  His  Majesty  on 
the  great  honour  which  he  has  paid  the  French 
people  by  making  a  long  stay  in  the  great  inter- 
national city.  And  I  take  advantage  of  this 
occasion  to  beg  His  Majesty  to  initiate  a  general 
convocation  of  all  the  sovereigns  of  the  whole  world 
for  next  month,  in  order  to  open  a  subscription 
list   for   the   construction   of   an   unprecedented 

95 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

fairy-palace  (new  style  and  copying  some  of  its 
details  from  planetary  nature  and  its  marvels),  to 
be  known  as  the  Sovereign  Palace  of  the  Universal 
Social  Congress,  symbolizing  the  whole  universe 
by  States,  containing  the  apartments  of  every 
sovereign  in  the  world,  and  situated  near  the  Bois 
de  Boulogne. 

"  I  consider  that  His  Majesty  would  thus  have 
a  good  opportunity  of  securing  a  great  page  in 
history. 

"  Hoping  for  a  just  appreciation  and  entire 
success,  I  send  His  Majesty  the  Shah  of 
Persia,  the  assiu'ance  of  my  greatest  respect, 
together  with  my  perfect  consideration,  and 
I  am 

"  the  most  humble  Architect-general  of  the 
Universal  Confederation  of  Social  Peace, 

"  at  His  Majesty's  service, 

"  C.  M." 

Now  comes  the  "  touching  "  note  : 

"  A  little  provincial  work-girl,  who  has  not 
the  honour  of  being  known  to  His  Majesty, 
kneels  down  before  him  and,  with  her  hands 
folded,  entreats  him  to  make  her  a  present 
of  a  sum  of  1,200  francs,  which  would  enable 
her  to  marry  the  young  man  she  loves.  .  .  .  Oh, 
what  blessings  he  would  receive,  day  after  day, 
for  that  kind  action  ! 

"  I  beg  the  Shah  to  forgive  me  for  any  offence 
that  this  letter  may  commit  against  etiquette, 
96 


THE   SHAH  OF  PERSIA 

with   which    I   am  not  acquainted.     I  kiss  His 
Majesty's  hands  and  I  am 

"  his  most  humble  and  obedient  Httle  servant, 

"  A.  C." 

Lastly,  is  not  the  following  letter  an  exquisitely 
candid  specimen  of  the  proper  art  of  "  sponging  "  ? 

"  Your  Majesty, 

"  As  you  are  a  friend  of  France,  I  propose 
to  write  to  you  as  a  friend ;  you  will  permit  me 
to  do  so,  I  hope. 

"  The  question  is  this  :  I  have  the  greatest 
longing  to  set  eyes  on  the  sea;  my  husband  has 
a  few  days'  holiday  in  the  course  of  October;  I 
should  like  to  make  the  most  of  it  and  to  go  away 
for  a  little  while. 

"  Our  means  are  very  small  indeed :  my 
husband  has  only  105  francs  a  month;  and  I 
could  not  do  what  I  wish  without  encroaching 
on  my  housekeeping-money,  which  is  calculated 
down  to  the  last  centime. 

"  I  therefore  remembered  your  generosity  and 
thought  that  you  might  be  touched  by  my  request. 

"  You  would  not  like  a  little  Paris  woman  to  be 
prevented  from  enjoying  the  sight  of  the  sea, 
which  you  have  doubtless  often  admired. 

"  You  are  very  fond  of  travelling ;  you  will 
understand  my  curiosity. 

"  Will  Your  Majesty  deign  to  accept  the  ex- 
pression of  my  most  respectful  and  distinguished 
sentiments  ? 

"  Mme.  a.  a." 
H  97 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

A  worthy  woman  sent  this  note  : 

"  To  His  Majesty  the  King  of  Persia, 

"  My  name  is  the  Widow  Bressoy,  aged  82. 
I  have  lost  my  husband  and  two  of  my  daughters, 
I  am  unable  to  walk  and  I  owe  a  quarter's  rent. 
My  grandmother  washed  for  His  Majesty  King 
Louis-Philippe  of  France ;  H.R.H.  the  Due 
d'Aumale  used  to  help  me  with  my  rent ;  show 
your  kind  heart  and  do  as  he  did.  Should  you 
come  to  the  church  of  Ste.  Elisabeth  du  Temple 
on  Sunday  next,  I  should  be  very  glad  to  see  you. 
"I  am 

"  Your  Majesty's  most  respectful  servant, 
"  Widow  Bressoy." 


The  following  original  proposal  came  from  a 
well-known  business-house  : 

"  Sir, 

"  After  the  Monza  crime  and  the  attempt 
of  which  you  were  the  object  yesterday,  and  in 
view  of  the  solemnities  during  which  you  might 
be  too  much  exposed  to  danger,  I  consider  it 
my  duty  to  bring  to  your  notice  certain  particu- 
lars which  might  be  of  the  greatest  use  to  you  and 
those  about  your  person. 

"  I  refer  to  secret  waistcoats  of  my  own 
manufacture,  which  I  am  able  to  offer  to  you  and 
which  are  absolutely  warranted. 

"  The  waistcoat  which  I  am  offering  is  proof 


/ 

THE   SHAH   OF   PERSIA 

against  a  revolver-bullet  and,  of  course,  against 
a  sword  or  dagger. 

"  As  an  absolute  guarantee,  I  can  assure  you 
as  follows  by  experiment  :  the  fabric  consists  of 
a  very  close  and  solidly-riveted  coat  of  steel  mail ; 
the  shape  of  the  links  has  been  specially  studied 
so  as  to  allow  of  great  suppleness,  while  preserving 
the  greatest  solidity. 

"  It  resists  the  12  mm.  bullet  of  the  regulation 
revolver,  1874  pattern. 

"  I  have  specimens  at  which  bullets  were  fired 
at  a  distance  of  four  yards;  they  give  an  exact 
idea  of  the  resisting-power. 

"  The  coat  of  mail  is  covered  with  silk  or  satin, 
which  gives  the  appearance  of  an  ordinary 
garment  and  does  not  for  a  moment  suggest  its 
special  object. 

"  The  waistcoat  protects  the  back,  the  chest, 
the  stomach  and  is  continued  down  to  the 
abdomen. 

"  I  must  add  that  the  waistcoat  is  very  easy 
to  wear  and  in  no  way  inconvenient,  on  condition 
that  I  be  supplied  with  the  necessary  measure- 
ments or,  better  still,  with  an  ordinary  day- 
waistcoat  of  the  wearer's,  fitted  to  his  size. 

"  Hoping  in  the  circumstances  to  be  of  some 
use  to  you,  I  beg  Your  Majesty  to  accept  the 
expression  of  my  most  profound  respect. 

"  R.  G." 

Let  us  pass  to  the  children.     Less  unreasonable 

than  their  parents,  they  content  themselves  with 
H2  "  99 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

asking    for     postage-stamps,    bicycles    or    auto- 
graphs. 

First  comes  a  public  schoolboy,  quite  proud  of 
incidentally  showing  that  he  knows  his  classics  : 

''  Sire, 

"  When  you  first  set  foot  on  French  soil, 
you  were  pleased  to  take  notice,  at  Maubeuge 
railway-station,  of  a  young  public  schoolboy, 
who,  not  knowing  your  quality,  was  only  able  to 
give  you  a  very  respectful  greeting.  That  young 
schoolboy  was  myself. 

"  I  realized  the  extent  of  the  signal  honour 
which  Your  Majesty  did  me,  when  I  learnt  that 
I  had  received  it  from  the  sovereign  of  Persia,  the 
country  of  Xerxes  and  Darius,  the  land  whose 
children  have  filled  the  world  with  the  fame  of 
their  exploits.  And,  descending  the  course  of 
the  ages,  reverting  to  the  lessons  of  my  masters, 
I  hailed  in  you  '  the  wise  and  enlightened  monarch 
whose  reign  holds  forth  so  many  hopes.' 

"  Sire,  I  shall  never  forget  that  moment, 
which  will  probably  be  the  only  one  of  its  kind 
in  my  life ;  but,  if  I  were  permitted  to  express  a 
wish,  I  would  humbly  confess  to  Your  Majesty 
that  my  greatest  happiness  would  be  to  possess 
a  collection  of  Persian  postage-stamps,  as  an 
official  token  of  the  honour  which  you  conde- 
scended to  do  me. 

"  Deign,  Sire,  etc. 

"  R.  W., 

"  pupil  at  the  Lycee  Faidherbe,  Lille 
"  {on  my  holidays).^^ 
100 


THE    SHAH   OF   PERSIA 

The  next  has  not  yet  learnt  the  beauties  of 
literary  style;  he  has  less  notions  of  form,  but 
his  ambition  is  more  far-reaching  : 


"  Your  Majesty, 

"  I  begin  by  begging  your  pardon  for  my 
presumption;  but  I  have  heard  everybody  say, 
and  I  read  in  the  paper,  that  Your  Majesty  is 
greatly  interested  in  motor-cars.  I  therefore 
thought  that  you  must  also  have  ridden  the 
bicycle,  which  you  now,  no  doubt,  care  less  for; 
and  it  occurred  to  me  that,  if  you  happened  to 
have  an  old  one  put  by,  Your  Majesty  might  do 
me  the  honour  to  give  it  to  me. 

"  Papa  and  my  big  brother  Jean  go  out  riding 
on  their  bicycles  and  I  am  left  at  home  with 
mamma,  because  I  have  not  a  machine  and  they 
cannot  afford  to  buy  me  one. 

"  I  should  be  so  proud  to  have  a  bicycle  given 
me  by  Your  Majesty. 

"  I  shall  not  tell  papa  that  I  am  writing  to 
Your  Majesty,  because  he  would  laugh  at  me,  and 
I  shall  take  three  sous  from  my  purse  for  the 
stamp  on  this  letter. 

"  I  pray  God  not  to  let  those  wicked  anarchists 
attack  Your  Majesty,  to  whom  I  offer  my  pro- 
found respect. 

"  Maurice  Lelandais, 
"  aged  9  J  years, 
"  living    with   his    family.    Faubourg    Bizienne, 

Guerande  {Loire-injerieure)y 

101 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

Another  schoolboy  : 

"  Verviers,  3  September. 

"  Great  King  of  Persia  in  France, 
"  Sir, 

"  I  have  read  in  the  paper  that  you  are 
very  rich  and  have  lots  of  gold. 

"  My  father  promised  to  give  me  a  gold  watch 
for  my  first  communion  next  year,  if  I  worked 
hard  at  school. 

"  I  did  study,  Sir,  for  I  was  second  ;  and  the  first 
is  thirteen  years  old ;  and  I  am  only  eleven  and  a 
half.  To  prove  this  to  you,  here  is  my  prize-list. 
Now,  when  I  ask  if  I  shall  have  my  watch,  my 
father  answers  that  he  has  no  money  and  he 
wants  it  all  for  bread.  It  is  not  right.  Sir,  to 
deceive  me  like  that.  But  I  hope  that  you  will 
give  me  what  they  refuse.  Do  me  that  great 
pleasure.     I  will  pray  for  you. 

"  I  love  you  very  much. 

"  M.  J." 

Here  is  an  artless  request  from  a  little  English 
girl  : 

"  Your  Majesty, 

"  I  hear  that  you  are  taking  a  holiday  in 
Paris  and  I  think  that  this  must  be  the  best  time 
to  write  to  you,  for  you  will  not  be  so  busy  as  in 
your  own  kingdom. 

"  First  of  all,  I  want  to  tell  you  that  I  am  an 
EngUsh  girl,  fourteen  years  of  age,  and  my  name 
X02 


THE   SHAH   OF   PERSIA 

is  Mary.  I  love  collecting  autographs  and  so 
far  I  have  been  very  lucky  and  have  some  of 
celebrities,  but  I  have  none  of  a  king,  except 
Menelik,  who  is  a  black  majesty. 

"  Now,  I  should  ever  so  much  like  to  have  a 
few  lines  in  your  handwriting. 

"  Do  be  so  very  kind  as  to  write  to  me. 

"  Mary  St.  J." 


All  these  efforts  of  the  imagination,  all  these 
prodigies  of  ingenuity  were  wasted.  ...  As  I  have 
said,  the  Shah  took  no  notice  whatever  of  the 
six  hundred  and  odd  begging  letters  of  different 
kinds  addressed  to  him  during  his  visits  to 
France.  Pleasure-loving  and  capricious,  careful 
of  his  own  peace  of  mind,  he  dreaded  and  avoided 
emotions  of  all  kinds.  .  .  .  Nevertheless,  he  was 
not  wholly  insensible  to  pity  nor  indifferent  to 
the  charms  of  the  fair  sex.  At  certain  times, 
he  was  capable  of  sudden  movements  of  magnifi- 
cent generosity  :  he  would  readily  give  a  diamond 
to  some  humble  workwoman  whom  he  met  on 
his  way;  he  would,  of  his  own  accord,  hand  a 
bank-note  to  a  beggar;  he  freely  distributed 
Persian  gold-pieces  stamped  with  his  effigy. 

He  would  also  fall  a  victim  to  sudden  amatory 
fancies  that  sometimes  caused  me  moments  of 
cruel  embarrassment.  I  remember  that,  one 
afternoon,  when  we  were  driving  in  the  Bois  de 
Boulogne,  near  the  lakes,  Muzaffr-ed-Din  noticed 

103 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

a  view  which  he  admired,  ordered  the  carriages 
to  stop  and  expressed  a  desire  to  take  some 
snapshots  of  the  charming  spot.  We  at  once 
ahghted.  A  Uttle  farther,  a  group  of  smart  ladies 
sat  engaged  in  animated  conversation,  without 
taking  the  smallest  heed  of  our  presence.  The 
Shah,  seeing  them,  asked  me  to  beg  them  to 
come  closer,  so  that  he  might  photograph  them. 
Although  I  did  not  know  them,  I  went  up  and 
spoke  to  them  and,  with  every  apology,  explained 
the  sovereign's  whim  to  them.  Greatly  amused, 
they  consented  with  a  good  grace.  The  Shah 
took  the  photograph,  smiled  to  the  ladies  and, 
when  the  operation  was  over,  called  me  to  him 
again  : 

^'  Paoli,"  he  said,  "  they  are  very  pretty,  very 
nice ;  go  and  ask  them  if  they  would  like  to  come 
back  with  me  to  Teheran." 

Imagine  my  face  !  I  had  to  employ  all  the 
resources  of  my  eloquence  to  make  the  King  of 
Kings  understand  that  you  cannot  take  a  woman 
to  Teheran  as  you  would  a  piano,  a  cinemato- 
graph or  a  motor-car,  and  that  you  cannot  say 
of  her,  as  of  an  article  in  a  shop,  "  Je  prends.^' 

I  doubt  whether  he  really  grasped  the  force  of 
my  arguments,  for,  some  time  after,  when  we 
were  at  the  Opera^  in  the  box  of  the  President  of 
the  Republic,  we  perceived  with  dismay  that  His 
Persian  Majesty,  instead  of  watching  the  perform- 
ance on  the  stage — consisting  of  that  exquisite 
ballet  Coppelia,  with  some  of  our  prettiest 
dancers  taking  part  in  it — kept  his  opera-glass 
104 


THE   SHAH   OF   PERSIA 

obstinately  fixed  on  a  member  of  the  audience 
in  the  back  row  of  the  fourth  tier,  giving  signs 
of  manifest  excitement  as  he  did  so.  I  was 
beginning  to  wonder  with  anxiety  whether  he 
had  caught  sight  of  some  "  suspicious  face," 
when  the  court  minister,  in  whose  ear  he  had 
whispered  a  few  words,  came  over  to  me  and  said, 
with  an  air  of  embarrassment  : 

"  His  Majesty  feels  a  profound  admiration  for 
a  lady  up  there  .  .  .  Do  you  see  ?  .  .  .  The  fourth 
seat  from  the  right.  .  .  .  His  Majesty  would  be 
obliged  if  you  would  enable  him  to  make  her 
acquaintance.  .  .  .  You  can  tell  her,  if  you  like, 
as  an  inducement,  that  my  sovereign  will  invite 
her  to  go  back  with  him  to  Teheran." 

Again  ! 

Although  this  sort  of  errand  did  not  fall 
within  the  scope  of  my  instructions,  I  regarded 
the  worthy  Oriental's  idea  as  so  comical  that  I 
asked  one  of  my  detectives,  who,  dressed  to  the 
nines,  was  keeping  guard  outside  the  presidential 
box,  whether  he  would  care  to  go  upstairs  and, 
if  possible,  convey  the  flattering  invitation  to  the 
object  of  the  imperial  flame.  My  Don  Juan  by 
proxy  assented  and  set  out  on  his  mission. 

The  Shah's  impatience  increased  from  moment 
to  moment.  The  last  act  had  begun,  when  I  saw 
my  inspector  return  alone  and  looking  very 
sheepish  : 

*'  Well,"  I  asked,  "  what  did  she  say  ?  " 

"  She  boxed  my  ears  !  " 

The  sovereign,  when  the  grand  vizier  conveved 

105 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

this  grievous  news  to  him,  knitted  his  bushy 
eyebrows,  declared  that  he  was  tired  and  ordered 
his  carriage. 

The  days  of  Muzaffr-ed-Din  were  full  of  engage- 
ments. Rising  very  early  in  the  morning,  he 
devoted  long  hours  to  his  toilet,  to  his  prayers, 
and  to  his  political  conversations  with  the  grand 
vizier.  He  worked  as  little  as  possible,  but  saw 
many  people;  he  liked  giving  audiences  to 
doctors  and  purveyors.  He  always  had  his  meals 
alone,  in  accordance  with  Persian  etiquette,  and 
was  served  at  one  time  with  European  dishes, 
which  were  better  suited  to  his  impaired  digestive 
organs,  and  at  another  with  Persian  fare,  con- 
sisting of  slices  of  Ispahan  melon,  with  white 
and  flavoursome  flesh;  of  the  national  dish 
called  pilaf  tiohab,  in  which  meat,  cut  up  and 
mixed  with  delicate  spices,  lay  spread  on  a  bed 
of  rice  just  scalded,  underdone  and  crisp;  of 
hard-boiled  eggs  and  young  marrows;  or  else 
of  stilo  grill,  represented  by  scallops  of  mutton 
soaked  in  aromatic  vinegar  and  cooked  over  a 
slow  fire  of  pinewood  embers ;  lastly,  of  aubergine 
fritters,  of  which  he  was  very  fond.  I  am  bound, 
for  that  matter,  to  say  that  Persian  cooking, 
which  I  had  many  opportunities  of  tasting,  is 
delicious  and  that  the  dishes  which  I  have 
named  would  have  done  honour  to  any  Parisian 
bill  of  fare. 

After  rising  from  table,  Muzaffr-ed-Din 
generally  devoted  an  hour  to  taking  a  nap,  after 
which  we  went  out  either  for  a  drive  round 
106 


THE   SHAH   OF   PERSIA 

the  Bois  or  to  see  the  shops  or  the  Paris 
sights.  To  tell  the  truth,  we  hardly  ever  knew 
beforehand  what  the  sovereign's  plans  were. 
He  seemed  to  take  a  mischievous  delight  in 
altering  the  afternoon  programme  and  route 
which  I  had  worked  out,  with  his  approval,  in 
the  morning.  Thanks  to  his  whims,  I  lived  in  a 
constant  state  of  alarm. 

"  I  want  to  see  some  museums  to-day,"  he 
would  say  at  eleven  o'clock.  "  We  will  start  at 
two." 

I  at  once  informed  the  minister  of  fine-arts,  who 
told  off  his  officials  to  receive  him ;  I  telephoned 
to  the  military  governor  of  Paris  to  send  an  escort. 

At  three  o'clock,  we  were  still  waiting.  At 
last,  just  about  four,  he  appeared,  with  a  look 
of  indifference  and  care  on  his  face,  and  told  me 
that  he  would  much  prefer  to  go  for  a  drive  in  the 
Bois  de  Boulogne. 

One  day,  after  he  had  spent  the  morning  in 
listening  to  a  chapter  of  the  life  of  Napoleon  I., 
he  beckoned  to  me  on  his  way  to  lunch : 

"  M.  Paoli,"  he  said,  "  I  want  to  go  to  the 
Chateau  de  Fontainebleau  to-day." 

"  Well,  Sir,  you  see  .  .  ." 

"  Quick,  quick  !  " 

There  was  no  arguing  the  matter.     I  rushed  to 

the  telephone,  warned  the  panic-stricken  P.L.M, 

Co.  that  we  must  have  a  special  train  at  all  costs, 

and  informed  the  keeper  of  the  palace  and  the 

dumbfoundered    sub-prefect    of     our    imminent 

arrival  at  Fontainebleau. 

107 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

When  the  Shah,  still  under  the  influence  of 
his  morning's  course  of  reading,  stepped  from  the 
carriage,  two  hours  later,  before  the  gate  of  the 
palace,  he  was  seized  with  a  strange  freak  :  he 
demanded  that  the  dragoons  who  had  formed 
his  escort  from  the  station  should  dismount  and 
enter  the  famous  Cour  des  Adieux  after  him. 
Next,  he  made  them  fall  into  line  in  the  middle 
of  the  great  quadrangle,  leant  against  the  steps, 
looked  at  them  long  and  fondly,  muttered  a  few 
sentences  in  Persian  and  then  disappeared  inside 
the  palace. 

Greatly  alarmed,  we  thought  at  first  that  he 
had  gone  mad ;  at  last  we  understood  :  he  had 
been  enacting  the  scene  in  which  the  Emperor 
takes  leave  of  his  grenadiers.  It  may  have  been 
very  flattering  for  the  dragoons;  I  doubt  if  it 
was  quite  so  flattering  for  Napoleon. 

His  visit  to  the  Louvre  also  lingers  in  my 
memory  among  the  more  amusing  episodes  of  his 
stay  in  Paris.  M.  Leygues,  who  was  at  that  time 
minister  of  fine-arts  and  in  this  capacity  did  the 
honours  of  the  museum  to  the  Shah,  had  resolved 
carefully  to  avoid  showing  our  guest  the  Persian 
room,  fearing  lest  the  King  of  Kings,  who  perhaps 
did  not  grasp  the  importance  of  the  priceless 
collection  which  Mme.  Dieulafoy  and  M.  Morgan 
had  brought  back  with  them,  shovild  show  a  keen 
vexation  at  finding  himself  in  the  presence  of 
jewels  and  mosaics  which  he  might  have  preferred 
to  see  in  his  own  country. 

The  minister,  therefore,  conducted  him  through 
108 


THE   SHAH   OF   PERSIA 

the  picture-  and  sculpture-galleries,  trying  to 
bewilder  his  mind  and  tire  his  legs,  so  that  he 
might  declare  his  curiosity  satisfied  as  soon  as 
possible. 

Lo  and  behold,  however,  the  Shah  suddenly 
said  : 

"  Take  me  to  the  Persian  room  !  " 

There  was  no  evading  the  command.  M. 
Leygues,  obviously  worried,  whispered  an  oxder 
to  the  chief  attendant  and  suggested  to  the  Shah 
that  he  should  take  a  short  rest  before  continuing 
his  inspection.     The  Shah  agreed. 

Meantime,  in  the  Persian  room,  keepers  and 
attendants  hurriedly  cleared  away  the  more 
valuable  ornaments  and  mosaics,  so  that  Muzaffr- 
ed-Din  should  not  feel  any  too  cruel  regrets ;  and, 
at  last,  the  King  of  Kings,  far  from  revealing  any 
disappointment,  declared  himself  delighted  to 
find  in  Paris  so  well-arranged  a  collection  of 
curious  remains  of  ancient  Persian  architecture 
and  art.     And  he  added,  slyly  : 

"  When  I  have  a  museum  at  Teheran,  I  shall 
see  that  we  have  a  French  room." 

For  that  matter,  he  was  often  capable  of  ad- 
ministering a  sort  of  snub  when  we  thought  that 
we  were  providing  him  with  a  surprise.  For 
instance,  one  day,  when,  with  a  certain  self- 
conceit,  I  showed  him  our  three  camels  in  the 
Jardin  d'Acclimatation  : 

"  I  own  nine  thousand  !  "  he  replied,  with  a 
scornful  smile. 

Our  zoological  gardens  did  not  interest  him  : 

109 


MY  ROYAL  CLIENTS 

he  only  twice  really  enjoyed  himself  there  to  my 
knowledge.  The  first  time  was  when,  at  his  own 
request,  he  was  allowed  to  witness  the  repugnant 
sight  of  a  boa-constrictor  devouring  a  live  rabbit. 
This  produced,  the  next  morning,  the  following 
letter  from  "  a  working  milliner,"  which  I  print 
"  with  all  faults  "  : 

"  Monsieur  Le  Chah, 

"  You  have  been  to  the  Jardin  d'Aclima- 
tation  (sic)  and  watched  the  boa-constrictor 
eating  a  live  rabbit.  This  was  very  interesting, 
so  you  said.  Ugh  !  How  could  the  King  of 
Kings,  an  excellency,  a  magesty  (sic),  find  pleasure 
in  the  awful  torments  of  that  poor  rabbit  ?  I  hate 
people  who  like  going  to  bull-fights.  Cruelty  and 
cowardice  go  hand  in  hand.  Are  you  one  of  the 
company,  monsieur  le  Chah  ?  " 

The  second  time  that  he  seemed  to  amuse 
himself  was  on  the  occasion  of  a  wedding-dance 
that  was  being  held  in  a  room  next  to  that  in 
which  he  had  stopped  to  take  tea.  On  hearing 
the  music,  he  suddenly  rose  and  opened  the  door 
leading  to  the  ball-room.  The  appearance  of  the 
devil  in  person  would  not  have  produced  a 
greater  confusion  than  that  of  this  potentate, 
wearing  his  high-peaked  astrakhan  cap  and 
covered  with  diamonds.  But  he,  without  the 
least  uneasiness,  went  the  round  of  the  couples, 
shook  hands  with  the  bride  and  bridegroom,  gave 
them  pieces  of  Persian  gold  money  and  made  his 
110 


THE   SHAH   OF   PERSIA 

excuses  to  the  bride  for  not  having  a  necklace 
about  him  to  offer  her.  ...  I  was  waiting  for  him 
to  invite  her  to  accompany  him  to  Teheran  : 
the  husband's  presence  no  doubt  frightened 
him ! 

He  seldom  left  his  rooms  at  night.     Sometimes, 
he  went  to  circus-performances  or  an  extrava- 
ganza or  musical  play;    he  preferred,  however, 
to  devote  his  evenings  to  more  domestic  enjoy- 
ments ;    he   loved   the   pleasures   of   home   life  : 
sometimes,  he  played  with  his  little  sons,  "  the 
little  shahs,"  as  they  were  called,  nice  little  boys 
of  seven  to  thirteen ;   at  other  times,  he  indulged 
in  his  favourite  games,  chess  and  billiards.     He 
played  these  with    his   grand    vizier,    his  court 
minister,  or  myself.     The  stakes  at  billiards  were 
generally  twenty  francs,  sometimes  a   hundred. 
We  did  our  best  to  lose,  for,  if  we  had  the  bad 
luck  to   win,   he  would   show  his  ill-temper  by 
throwing  up  the  game  and  retiring  into  a  corner, 
where  his  servants  lit  his  great  Persian  pipe  for 
him,   the  kaljan,   a   sort  of    Turkish   narghileh, 
filled    with    a    scented    tobacco    called    tombeki. 
Often,  also,  to  console  himself  for  his  mortification 
at  billiards,  he  called  for  music.     I  then  heard 
songs  behind  the  closed  hangings,  harsh,  strange, 
and  also  very  sweet  songs,  accompanied  on  the 
piano  or  the  violin  :    it  was  a  sort  of  evocation 
of  the  east  in  a  modern  frame ;  and  the  contrast, 
I  must  say,  was  rather  pleasing. 


Ill 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

6 

The  Shah  and  I  grew  accustomed  to  each  other, 
Httle  by  Httle,  and  became  the  best  of  friends.  .  . 
He  refused  to  go  anywhere  without  me;  I  took 
part  in  the  drives,  in  the  games  at  bilhards,  in 
the  concerts,  in  all  the  journeys.  We  went  to 
Vichy,  to  Vittel,  to  Contrexeville.  It  was  here, 
at  Contrexeville,  where  he  had  come  for  the  cure, 
that  I  saw  him  for  the  last  time.  His  eccentri- 
cities, his  whims  and  his  diamonds  had  produced 
the  usual  effect  on  the  peaceful  population  of 
the  town. 

A  few  days  after  his  arrival,  hearing  that  H.I.H. 
the  Grand-duchess  Vladimir  of  Russia  had  taken 
up  her  quarters  at  an  hotel  near  his  own,  he 
hastened  to  call  and  pay  his  respects  and  de- 
parted from  his  habits  to  the  length  of  inviting 
her  to  luncheon. 

On  the  appointed  day,  the  grand-duchess, 
alighting  from  her  carriage  before  the  residence 
of  her  host,  found  the  Shah  waiting  for  her  on 
the  threshold  in  a  grey  frock-coat,  with  a  rose  in 
his  button-hole.  He  ceremoniously  led  her  by 
the  hand  to  the  dining-room,  making  her  walk 
through  his  rooms,  the  floors  of  which  he  had 
had  covered  with  the  wonderful  Kashan  carpets 
that  accompanied  him  on  all  his  journeys.  The 
princess,  charmed  with  these  delicate  attentions 
on  the  great  man's  part,  was  beginning  to  con- 
gratulate herself  on  the  pleasant  surprise  which 
Persian  civilization  had  caused  her,  when — we 
112 


THE   SHAH   OF   PERSIA 

had  hardly  sat  down  to  table — a  chamberlain 
went  up  to  the  King  of  Kings,  bowed  low  and 
handed  him  a  gold  salver,  on  which  lay  a  queer- 
looking  and,  at  first,  indescribable  object.  .  .  . 
The  Shah,  without  blinking,  carelessly  put  out 
his  hand,  took  the  thing  between  his  fingers  and, 
with  an  easy  and  familiar  movement,  inserted 
it  in  his  jaw  :  it  was  a  set  of  false  teeth  !  Imagine 
the  consternation  ! 

The  grand-duchess,  as  may  be  imagined,  re- 
tained an  unforgettable  memory  of  this  lunch, 
the  more  so  as  the  Shah,  perhaps  in  order  to  wipe 
out  any  unpleasant  impression  that  might  linger 
in  her  mind,  did  a  very  gallant  thing  :  the  next 
day,  the  Princess  Vladimir  received  a  bale  of 
Persian  carpets  of  inestimable  value,  accompanied 
by  a  letter  from  the  grand  vizier  begging  her, 
in  the  name  of  his  sovereign,  to  accept  this 
present.  His  Majesty  having  declared  that  he 
would  allow  no  other  feet  to  tread  carpets  on 
which  Her  Imperial  Highness' s  had  rested. 

I,  less  fortunate  than  the  grand-duchess,  never, 
alas,  succeeded  in  obtaining  possession  of  the 
one  and  only  carpet  which  Muzaffr-ed-Din  had 
deigned — quite  spontaneously — ^to  offer  me. 

"  My  ministers  will  see  that  you  get  it,"  he 
said. 

When  the  day  of  his  departure  for  Persia  drew 
near,  I  thought  that  it  would  be  wise  to  ask  the 
court  minister  for  my  carpet  in  my  most  respectful 
manner. 

"  Oh,"  he  repHed,  "  does  it  belong  to  you  ? 
I  113 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

The  only  thing  is  that  it  has  been  packed  up,  by 
mistake,  with  the  others.  If  you  want  it,  they 
can  give  it  to  you  in  the  train." 

As  I  was  to  accompany  our  guest  as  far  as  the 
German  frontier,  I  waited  until  we  had  left 
Vichy  and  discreetly  repeated  my  request  at  the 
first  stop. 

"  Certainly,"  said  the  minister,  "  you  shall  have 
it  at  the  next  station." 

I  was  beginning  to  feel  uneasy.  At  the  follow- 
ing stopping-place,  there  was  no  sign  of  a  carpet. 
We  were  approaching  the  frontier,  where  my 
mission  ended.  I  therefore  resolved  to  apply 
to  the  minister  of  public  works. 
"  Your  excellency  .  .  ." 

"  Your  carpet  ?  "  he  broke  in.  "  Quite  right, 
my  dear  M.  Paoli.  The  orders  have  been  given ; 
and  you  shall  have  it  when  you  leave  us  at  the 
other  station." 

But  here  again,  alas,  nothing !  And,  as  I 
complained  to  a  third  excellency  of  this  strange 
piece  of  neglect  : 

"  It's  an  omission.  Come  with  us  as  far  as 
Strassburg,  where  you  will  receive  satisfaction." 
At  this  rate,  they  would  have  carried  me,  by 
easy  stages,  to  Teheran.  ...  I  therefore  gave  up 
all  hopes  of  my  carpet.  And,  taking  leave  of 
these  amiable  functionaries,  I  heard  the  good 
Shah's  voice  crying  in  the  distance  : 

"  Good-bye,  Paoli,  worthy  Paoli  !  Till  our 
next  meeting  !  " 

I  never  saw  him  again. 
114 


CHAPTER   IV 

THE    TSAR    NICHOLAS    II.    AND    THE    TSARITSA 
ALEXANDRA    FEODOROVNA 


I  HAD  just  reached  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior 
and  was  entering  my  office,  when  a  messenger 
came  up  to  me  and  said,  solemnly  : 

"The  prime  minister  would  like  to  speak  to 
you  at  once,  sir." 

When  a  public  official  is  sent  for  by  his  chief,  ^ 
the  first  thought  that  flashes  across  his  brain  is 
that  of  disgrace;  and  he  instinctively  makes  a 
rapid  and  silent  examination  of  conscience  to 
quiet  his  anxious  mind,  unless  indeed  he  but 
ends  by  alarming  it.  Nevertheless,  I  admit 
that,  when  I  received  this  message,  I  took  it 
philosophically.  The  prime  minister,  at  that 
time,  was  M.  Waldeck-Rousseau.  It  is  not  my 
business  here  to  pass  judgment  on  the  politician; 
and  I  have  retained  a  most  pleasant  recollection 
of  the  man.  To  attractions  more  purely  intel- 
lectual he  added  a  certain  geniality  of  disposition. 
He  looked  upon  events  and  upon  life  itself  from 

^  In  France,  the  premiership  is  very  often  held  in  con- 
junction with  the  portfolio  of  the  Interior  or  Home  Office* 
— Translator's  Note. 

12  115 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

the  point  of  view  of  a  more  or  less  disillusionized 
dilettante ;  and  this  made  him  at  once  satirical, 
indulgent  and  obliging.  He  honoured  me  with  a 
kindly  friendship,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
he  used  to  reproach  me,  in  his  jesting  way,  with 
becoming  too  much  of  a  reactionary  from  my 
contact  with  the  monarchs  of  Europe,  and  that  I 
once  took  his  breath  away  by  telling  him  that 
I  had  dined  with  the  Empress  Eugenie  at  Cap 
Martin. 

"  A  republican  official  at  the  Empress's  table  !  " 
he  cried.  "  You're  the  only  man,  my  dear  Paoli, 
who  would  dare  to  do  such  a  thing.  .  .  .  And 
you're  the  only  one,"  he  added,  slyly,  "in  whom 
we  would  stand  it  !  " 

For  all  that,  when  I  entered  his  room  on  this 
particular  morning,  I  was  struck  with  his 
thoughtful  air;  and  my  surprise  increased  still 
further  when  I  saw  him,  after  shaking  hands 
with  me,  carefully  shut  the  door  and  give  a 
glance  to  make  sure  that  we  were  quite  alone. 

"  You  must  not  be  astonished  at  these  pre- 
cautions," he  began.  "  I  have  some  news  to 
tell  you  which,  for  reasons  which  you  will  under- 
stand as  soon  as  you  hear  what  the  news  is,  must 
be  kept  secret  as  long  as  possible  .  .  .  and  you 
know  that  the  walls  of  a  ministerial  office  have 
very  sharp  ears.  .  .  .  This  is  the  news  :  I  have 
just  heard  from  the  Russian  ambassador  and 
from  Delcasse  that  the  negotiations  which  have 
been  on  foot  between  the  two  governments  in 
view  of  a  second  visit  of  the  Tsar  and  Tsaritsa 
116 


NICHOLAS   11.   AND   THE   TSARITSA 

are  at  last  completed.     Their  Imperial  Majesties 
will  pay  an  ofBcial  visit  of  three  days  to  France. 
They   may   come   to    Paris;    in    any    case,   they 
will  stay   at  the  Chateau   de  Compiegne,  where 
the     sovereigns    will    take     up    their    quarters, 
together  with    the    President   of    the    Republic 
and    all    of   us.      They  will    arrive  from  Russia 
by    sea;     they    will    land    at    Dunkirk    on    the 
18th  of  September;  and  from  there  they  will  go 
straight  by  rail  to  Compiegne.     The  festivities 
will  end  with  a  visit  to  Rheims  and  a  review  of 
our  eastern  frontier  troops  at  Betheny  Camp." 
The  minister  paused,  and  then  continued  : 
"  And  now  I  must  ask  you  to  listen  to  me  very 
carefully.     I    want    no    accident   nor    unpleasant 
incident  of  any  kind  to  occur  during  this  visit. 
The  Tsar  has  been  made  to  believe  that  his  safety 
and  the  Tsaritsa's  run  the  greatest  risks  through 
their  coming  to  France.     It  is  important  that  we 
should  give  the  lie  in  a  striking  fashion — as  we 
did  in  1896 — ^to  the  bad  reputation  which    our 
enemies  outside  are  trying  to  give  us.     They  are 
simply  working  against  the  alliance ;  and  we  have 
the  greatest  political  interest  in  defeating  their 
machinations.     We   must,  therefore,  take   every 
necessary  measure  accordingly;    and  I    am  en- 
trusting this  task  to  Cavard,   the  chief   of  the 
detective- service,    Hennion,    his    colleague,    and 
yourself.      You  are  to  divide  the  work    among 
you.     Cavard  will  control  the  whole  business  and 
settle  the  details ;  Hennion,  with  his  remarkable 
activity,  will  see  that  they  are  carried  out  and 

117 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

devote  himself  to  the  protection  of  the  Tsar; 
and  I  have  reserved  for  you  the  most  enviable 
part  of  the  task  :  I  entrust  the  Empress  to  your 
special  care." 

The  Emperor  Nicholas  II.  and  the  Empress 
Alexandra  were  very  nearly  the  only  members 
of  the  Russian  imperial  family  whom  I  did  not 
yet  know.  At  the  time  when  they  made  their 
first  journey  to  Paris,  to  celebrate  the  conclusion 
of  the  Franco-Russian  alliance,  I  was  in  Sweden 
as  the  guest  of  King  Oscar,  His  Majesty  having 
most  graciously  invited  me  to  spend  a  period  of 
sick-leave  with  him;  and  it  was  on  the  deck  of 
his  yacht,  at  the  end  of  a  dinner  which  he  gave 
me  in  the  Bay  of  Stockholm,  that  the  news  of  the 
triumphal  reception  of  the  Russian  sovereigns 
had  come  to  gladden  my  patriotism  and  his 
faithful  afiection  for  the  country  which,  through 
his  Bernadotte  blood,  was  also  his. 

On  the  other  hand,  I  had  repeatedly  had  the 
honour  of  attending  the  grand-dukes ;  and  I  was 
attached  to  the  person  of  the  Tsarevitch  George 
at  the  time  of  his  two  stays  on  the  Cote  d'Azur, 
in  the  villa  which  he  occupied  at  the  Cap  d'Ail, 
facing  the  sea,  among  the  orange-trees  and 
thymes.  I  had  beheld  the  sad  and  silent  tragedy 
enacted  in  the  mind  of  that  pale  and  suffering 
young  prince,  heir  to  a  mighty  empire,  whom 
death  had  already  marked  for  its  own  .  .  .  and 
who  knew  it !  He  knew  it,  but  submitted 
to  fate's  decree  without  a  murmur.  Resigning 
himself  to  the  inevitable,  he  strove  to  enjoy  the 
118 


THK    TSAK,    THK    TZAK1T>.\.    AXll    THK    T>AR1- \  ITCH. 


IPagC  Il8. 


NICHOLAS   II.   AND   THE   TSARITSA 

few  last  pleasures  that  life  still  held  for  him  : 
the  sunlight,  the  flowers  and  the  sea;  he  sought 
to  beguile  the  anxiety  of  his  suite  and  of 
his  doctors  by  assuming  a  mask  of  playful  good- 
humour  and  an  appearance  of  youthful  hope  and 
zest.  Lastly,  at  the  same  Villa  des  Terrasses, 
I  had  known  the  Dowager-Empress  Marie  Feodo- 
rovna,  whom  her  great  green-and-gold  railway- 
train  had  brought  from  Russia  with  her  children, 
the  Grand-duchess  Xenia  and  the  Grand-duke 
Michael,  at  the  first  news  of  a  slight  relapse  on 
the  part  of  the  illustrious  patient. 

For  two  long  months,  I  took  part  in  the  inner 
life  of  that  little  court;  and,  more  than  once,  I 
detected  the  anguish  of  the  mother  stealthily 
trying  to  read  the  secret  of  her  son's  hectic  eyes, 
peering  at  his  pale  face,  watching  for  his  hoarse, 
hacking  cough,  as  he  walked  beside  her,  or  dined 
opposite  her,  or  played  at  cards  with  his  sister, 
or,  with  his  long  and  too-white  hands,  stroked 
the  head  of  his  lively  and  slender  Russian 
hound,  Moustique. 

These  memories  were  already  four  years  old. 
....  How  much  had  happened  since !  .  .  .  . 
The  Tsarevitch  George  had  gone  to  the  Caucasus 
to  die ;  the  Franco-Russian  alliance,  the  realiza- 
tion of  which  was  contemplated  in  the  interviews 
at  the  Cap  d'Ail  between  the  Dowager- Empress 
and  Baron  de  Mohrenheim,  the  Russian  ambas- 
sador in  Paris,  had  become  an  accomplished 
fact. 

This  new  visit  of  the  allied  sovereigns  rcpre- 

119 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

sented  an  important  trump  in  the  game  of  our 
policy  as  against  the  rest  of  Europe  :  it  suppUed 
the  answer  which  we  felt  called  upon  to 
make,  from  time  to  time,  to  those  who  were 
anxiously  awaiting  the  least  event  capable  of 
disturbing  the  Franco-Russian  alliance,  with  a 
view  to  exploiting  any  such  event  in  favour 
of  a  rupture. 

The  reader,  therefore,  will  easily  imagine  the 
importance  which  M.  Waldeck-Rousseau  attached 
to  his  watchword,  "  No  accident  nor  incident  of 
any  kind  !  " 

The  measures  of  protection  with  which  a  sove- 
reign is  surrounded  when  he  happens  to  be 
Emperor  of  Russia  are  of  a  more  complicated  and 
delicate  character  than  those  adopted  in  the  case 
of  any  other  monarch.  Fiercely  guarded  by  his 
own  police,  whose  almost  brutal  zeal,  tending  as  it 
often  does  to  offend  and  exasperate,  may  prove 
a  danger  rather  than  a  protection,  the  Tsar  is, 
unknown  to  himself,  enveloped  by  the  majority 
of  those  who  hover  round  him  in  a  network  of 
silent  intrigues  which  keep  up  a  latent  spirit  of 
distrust  and  dismay. 

It  does  not  fall  within  my  present  scope  nor 
do  I  here  intend  to  frame  an  indictment  against 
the  Russian  police.  For  that  matter,  tragic 
incidents  and  regrettable  scandals  enough  have 
revealed  the  sinister  and  intricate  underhand 
methods  of  that  occult  force  in  such  a  way 
as  to  leave  no  doubt  of  its  nature  in  men's 
minds.  I  will  content  myself  with  confessing 
120 


NICHOLAS   II.   AND   THE   TSARITSA 

that,  although  the  numberless  anonymous  letters 
which  we  received  at  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior 
before  the  Tsar's  arrival  mostly  failed  to  excite 
us,  the  appearance,  on  the  other  hand,  of  certain 
obnoxious  persons,  who  came  to  concert  witli  us 
as  to  "  the  measures  to  be  taken,"  nearly  always 
resulted  in  awakening  secret  terrors  within  us. 
...  I  became  acquainted,  in  this  way,  with  some 
of  the  celebrated  figures  of  the  Russian  secret 
police  :  the  famous  Harting  was  one  of  their 
number;  and  it  is  also  possible  that  I  may  have 
consorted,  without  knowing  it,  with  the  mysterious 
Azeff.  My  clearest  recollection  of  my  relations 
with  these  gentry — always  excepting  M.  Raskow- 
sky,  the  chief  of  the  Russian  police  in  Paris — is 
that  we  thought  it  wise  to  keep  them  under 
observation  and  to  hide  from  them,  as  far  as 
possible,  the  measures  which  we  proposed  to 
adopt  for  the  safety  of  their  sovereigns  ! 

As  I  have  shown  above,  the  responsibility  of 
organizing  those  measures  on  the  occasion  of  the 
Tsar's  journey  in  1901  was  entrusted  to  M.  Cavard, 
the  head  of  the  French  political  police ;  but  the 
honour  of  ensuring  their  proper  performance 
was  due  above  all  to  M.  Hennion,  his  chief  lieu- 
tenant, who  has  now  succeeded  him.  In  point  of 
fact,  M.  Cavard's  long  and  brilliant  administrative 
career  had  not  prepared  him  for  such  rough  and 
tiring  tasks.  An  excellent  official,  this  honest 
man,  whose  high  integrity  it  is  a  pleasure  to  me  to 
recognize,  had  a  better  grasp  of  the  sedentary 
work  of  the  offices.     Hennion,  on  the  contrary, 

121 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 


"  1^, 


knew  his  business  "  and  possessed  its  special 
qualifications.  Endowed  with  a  remarkable  spirit 
of  initiative  and  an  invariable  coolness,  eager, 
indefatigable  and  shrewd,  fond  of  fighting,  with  a 
quick  scent  of  danger,  he  was  always  seen  in  the 
breach  and  he  knew  how  to  be  everywhere  when 
wanted.  This  was  an  invaluable  quality  when 
the  zone  to  be  protected  extended,  as  it  did  in  this 
case,  over  a  length  of  several  hundred  miles  and 
embraced  almost  half  France. 

Our  measures  consisted,  first  of  all,  in  doubling 
the  watch  kept  on  foreigners  living  in  France 
and  notably  on  the  Russian  anarchists.  The 
copious  information  which  we  possessed  about 
their  antecedents  and  their  movements  made 
our  task  an  easy  one.  Paris,  like  every  other 
large  city  in  Europe,  contains  a  pretty  active 
focus  of  nihilism.  This  is  made  up  mainly  of 
students  and  of  young  women,  who  are  generally 
more  formidable  than  the  men.  Still,  these  revo- 
lutionary spirits  always  prefer  theory  to  action; 
and  they  were  consequently  less  to  be  feared 
than  others  who,  on  the  pretext  of  seeing  the 
festivities,  might  come  from  abroad  charged 
with  a  criminal  mission. 

We  had,  therefore,  established  observation- 
posts  in  all  the  frontier-stations,  posts  composed 
of  officers  who  lost  no  time  in  shadowing  the 
steps  of  any  suspicious  traveller.  But,  however 
minute  our  investigations  might  be,  it  was  still 
possible  for  the  threads  of  a  plot  to  escape  us; 
and  we  had  to  prepare  ourselves  against  possible 
122 


NICHOLAS   IT.    AND   THE   TSARITSA 

surprises  at  places  where  it  was  known  that  the 
sovereigns  were  likely  to  be.  A  special  watch  had 
to  be  kept  along  the  railways  over  which  the 
imperial  train  would  travel  and  in  the  streets 
through  which  the  procession  would  pass.  For 
this  purpose,  as  usual,  we  divided  the  line  from 
Dunkirk  to  Compiegne  and  from  Compiegne  to 
the  frontier  into  sections  and  sub-sections,  each 
placed  under  the  command  of  the  district  commis- 
sary of  police,  who  had  under  his  orders  the  local 
police  force  and  gendarmery,  reinforced  by  the 
troops  stationed  in  the  department.  Posted  at 
intervals  on  either  side  of  the  line,  at  the  entrance 
and  issue  of  the  tunnels,  on  and  under  the  bridges, 
sentries,  with  loaded  rifles,  prevented  any  one 
from  approaching  and  had  orders  to  raise  an 
alarm  if  they  saw  the  least  suspicious  object 
lying  on  or  near  the  rails. 

We  also  identified  the  tenants  of  all  the  houses 
situated  either  along  the  railway-line  or  in  the 
streets  through  which  our  guests  were  likely  to 
drive.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  what  we  most  feared  was 
the  traditional  outrage  perpetrated  or  attempted 
from  a  window.  On  the  other  hand,  we  refused 
(contrary  to  what  has  been  stated)  to  adopt  the 
system  employed  by  the  Spanish,  German  and 
Italian  police  on  the  occasion  of  any  visit  from  a 
sovereign,  the  system  which  consists  in  arresting 
all  the  "  suspects  "  during  the  period  of  the  royal 
guest's  stay.  This  proceeding  not  only  appeared 
to  us  needlessly  vexatious,  for  it  constitutes  a 
flagrant  attempt  upon  the  liberty  of  the  individual, 

123 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

but  we  thought  that,  with  our  democracy,  there 
was  a  danger  of  its  aUenating  the  sympathies  of 
our  population  from  our  illustrious  visitors.  We 
had,  therefore,  to  be  content  to  forestall  any 
possible  catastrophes  by  other  and  less  arbitrary 
means. 


Our  vigilance  was  naturally  concentrated  with 
the  greatest  attention  upon  Compiegne.  We 
sent  swarms  of  police  to  beat  the  forest  and  search 
every  copse  and  thicket;  and  the  chateau  itself 
was  inspected  from  garret  to  basement  by  our 
most  trusted  detectives.  These  precautions,  how- 
ever, seemed  insufficient  to  our  colleagues  of  the 
Russian  police.  A  fortnight  before  the  arrival 
of  the  sovereigns,  one  of  them,  taking  us  aside, 
said  ; 

"  The  cellars  must  be  watched." 

"  But  it  seems  to  us,"  we  replied,  "  that  we 
cannot  very  well  do  more  than  Ave  are  doing  : 
they  are  visited  every  evening ;  and  there  are  men 
posted  at  all  the  doors." 

"  Very  good  :  but  how  do  you  know  that  your 
men  will  not  be  bribed  and  that  the  '  terrorists  ' 
will  not  succeed,  unknown  to  you,  in  placing  an 
explosive  machine  in  some  dark  corner  ?  " 

"  Then  what  do  you  suggest  ?  " 

"  Put  men  upon  whom  you  can  rely,  here  and 
now,  in  each  cellar,  with  instructions  to  remain 
there  night  and  day  until  Their  Majesties' 
departure.  And,  above  all,  see  that  they  hold 
124 


NICHOLAS   II.   AND   THE   TSARITSA 

no  communication  with  the  outside.     They  must 
prepare  their  own  meals." 

The  solution  may  have  been  ingenious,  but  we 
dechned  to  entertain  it  :  we  considered,  in  point 
of  fact,  that  it  was  unnecessary,  two  weeks  before 
the  coming  of  the  Emperor  and  Empress,  to 
condemn  a  number  of  respectable  men  to  under- 
ground imprisonment,  a  form  of  torture  which 
had  not  been  inflicted  on  even  the  worst  criminals 
for  more  than  a  century  past. 

On    the    other    hand,    we    mixed    detectives 

with    the    large    staff    of    workmen    who    were 

engaged  in  restoring  the  old  chateau  to  its  ancient 

splendour.      The    erstwhile    imperial    residence, 

which  had  stood  empty  since  the  war,  now  rose 

again  from  its  graceful   and   charming  past  as 

though  by  the  stroke  of  a  fairy's  wand.     The 

authorities  hastily  collected  the  most  sumptuous 

remains  of  the  former  furniture  now  scattered 

over  our  museums.    Gradually,  the  deserted  halls 

and  abandoned  bedrooms  were  once  more  filled,  in 

the  same  places,  with  the  same  objects  that  had 

adorned  them  in  days  gone  by.     The  apartments 

set  aside  for  the  Tsar  and  Tsaritsa  were  those 

once  occupied  by  the  Emperors  Napoleon  I.  and 

Napoleon  III.  and  the  Empresses  Marie-Louise 

and  Eugenie.     As  we  passed  through  them,  our 

eyes  were   greeted   by   the   wonderful   Beauvais 

tapestries,  of  which  the  King  of  Prussia  one  day 

said  that   "  no  king's  fortune  was  large   enough 

to  buy  them;"   we  hesitated  before  treading  on 

the    exquisite   Savonnerie   carpets,    with   which 

125 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

Louis  XIV.  had  covered  the  floors  of  Versailles; 
in  the  Tsaritsa's  boudoir  we  admired  Marie- 
Louise's  cheval-glass;  in  her  bedroom  we  found 
the  proud  arch-duchess's  four-poster ;  in  Nicholas 
II. 's  bedroom  we  discovered  a  relic  :  the  bed  of 
Napoleon  I.,  the  beautifully-carved  mahogany 
bedstead  in  which  the  man  whom  a  great  his- 
torian called  "  that  terrible  antiquarian  "  and 
whom  no  battle  had  wearied,  dreamt  of  the  empire 
of  Charlemagne.  .  .  .  Was  it  not  a  striking  irony 
of  fate  that  thus  awarded  the  conqueror's  pillow 
to  the  first  promoter  of  peaceful  arbitration  ? 

While  upholsterers,  gardeners,  carpenters,  lock- 
smiths and  painters  were  producing  this  amazing 
metamorphosis,  the  ministry  was  drawing  up 
the  programme  of  the  rejoicings  and  calling  in  the 
aid  of  the  greatest  poets,  the  most  illustrious 
artists,  the  prettiest  and  most  talented  ballet- 
dancers.  .  .  .  Rehearsals  were  held  in  the  theatre 
where,  years  ago,  the  Prince  Imperial  had  made 
his  first  appearance;  the  carriages  were  tried  in 
the  avenues  of  the  park;  a  swarm  of  butlers  and 
footmen  were  taught  court  etiquette  in  the 
servants'  hall;  and  certain  ministers'  wives, 
trusting  to  the  discreet  solitude  of  their  boudoirs, 
took  lessons  in  solemn  curtseying.  All  spent 
days  and  weeks  of  feverish  expectation,  during 
which  everything  had  to  be  improvised  for  the 
occasion;  for  this  was  the  first  time  since  its 
advent  that  the  republic  was  entertaining  her 
guests  outside  Paris. 

And  then  the  great  day  came.  One  morning, 
126 


NICHOLAS   II.   AND   THE   TSARITSA 

on  the  platform  of  the  Gare  du  Nord,  a  gentleman 
dressed  in  black,  with  beard  neatly  trimmed, 
followed  by  ministers,  generals  and  more  persons 
in  black,  including  myself,  stepped  into  a  special 
train.  He  had  been  preceded  by  a  valet  carrying 
three  bags.  The  first — is  it  not  a  detective's 
duty  to  know  everything  ? — was  a  dressing-case 
containing  silver-stopped  crystal  fittings;  the 
second,  which  was  long  and  fiat,  held  six  white 
shirts,  twelve  collars,  three  night-shirts,  a  pair 
of  slippers  and  two  broad  ribbons,  one  red,  the 
other  blue;  and  in  the  third  were  packed  a 
brand-new  dress-suit,  six  pairs  of  white  gloves 
and  three  pairs  of  patent-leather  boots.  M. 
Loubet,  calm  and  smiling,  was  starting  for 
Dunkirk  to  meet  his  guests. 


My  first  impression  of  the  young  sovereigns 
was  very  different  from  that  which  I  expected. 
To  judge  by  the  fantastic  measures  taken  in 
anticipation  of  their  arrival  and  by  the  atmosphere 
of  suspicion  and  mystery  which  people  had  been 
pleased  to  create  around  them,  we  were  tempted 
to  picture  them  as  grave,  solemn,  haughty, 
mystical  and  distrustful;  and  our  thoughts 
turned,  in  spite  of  ourselves,  to  the  court  of  Ivan 
the  Terrible  rather  than  to  that  of  Peter  the 
Great. 

Then,  suddenly,  our  ideas  were  changed. 
When  we  saw  them  close  at  hand,  we  beheld  a 

127 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

very  united  couple,  very  simple  and  kindly, 
anxious  to  please  everybody  and  to  fall  in  with 
everybody's  wishes,  obviously  hating  official 
pomp  and  ceremony  and  regretting  to  be  continu- 
ally separated  by  impenetrable  barriers  from  the 
rest  of  the  world.  We  perceived  that  they  loved 
to  throw  aside  reserve,  that  they  were  capable  of 
endless  delicacy  of  thought,  especially  for  their 
humbler  fellow-creatures.  We  detected  in  the 
laughter  in  his  eyes  a  frank  and  youthful  gaiety 
that  itched  at  restraint ;  and  we  suspected  in  the 
melancholy  of  hers  the  secret  tragedy  of  an 
ever-anxious  affection,  of  a  destiny  weighed  down 
by  the  burden  of  a  crown  in  which  there  were 
all  too  many  thorns  and  too  few  roses. 

I  think,  besides,  that  an  erroneous  opinion  has 
been  generally  formed  of  the  Tsar's  character. 
He  has  been  said  and  is  still  said  to  be  a  weak  man. 
Now  I  should  be  inclined,  on  this  point,  to  agree 
with  M.  Loubet  that  Nicholas  II. 's  "  weakness  " 
is  more  apparent  than  real,  and  that  in  him,  as 
formerly  in  our  Napoleon  III.,  there  is  "  a  gentle 
obstinate "  who  has  strong  notions  of  his  own, 
a  being  conscious  of  his  power  and  proud  of  the 
glory  of  his  name. 


128 


NICHOLAS   II.    AND   THE  TSARITSA 

It  is  true  that  the  rectihnear  horizontal  slant 
of  the  letters  composing  the  signature  reveals  a 
loving,  imaginative,  intuitive  disposition,  which 
feels  a  subtle  need  of  sympathy  and  affection. 
On  the  other  hand,  observe  the  strong  and  pro- 
tecting pride  of  the  N,  the  stubbornness  of  the 
hook  that  ends  it,  the  vigour  of  realization 
denoted  by  the  dot  on  the  i,  the  force  of  the  bold 
flourish  pointing  to  justice  and  generosity  and 
an  implacable  will. 

Nicholas  II.  had  met  M.  Loubet  before  the 
time  of  this  second  visit.  When  the  Emperor 
first  came  to  France,  in  1896,  the  future  President 
of  the  Republic  was  president  of  the  Senate 
and,  in  this  capacity,  had  not  only  been  pre- 
sented to  the  sovereign,  but  had  received  a  visit 
from  him.  In  this  connection,  the  late  M.  Felix 
Faure  used  to  tell  an  amusing  story,  which  he 
said  that  he  had  from  the  Tsar  in  person. 

It  was  after  a  luncheon  at  the  filysec.  Nicholas 
II.  had  told  President  Faure  that  he  would  like 
to  call  on  the  president  of  the  Senate  and  expressed 
a  wish  to  go  to  the  Palais  du  Luxembourg,  if 
possible,  incognito.  A  landau  was  at  once  pro- 
vided, without  an  escort;  and  the  Emperor 
stepped  in,  accompanied  by  General  de  Bois- 
deffre.  At  that  hour,  the  peaceful  Luxembourg 
quarter  was  almost  deserted.  The  people  in 
the  streets,  expecting  the  Tsar  to  drive  back 
to  the  Russian  Embassy,  had  drifted  in  that 
direction  to  cheer  him. 

Wishing  first  to  find  out  if  M.  Loubet  was  there, 
K  129 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

General  de  Boisdeffre  had  ordered  the  coachman 
to  stop  a  few  yards  from  the  palace,  opposite 
the  gate  of  the  Luxembourg  gardens.  He  then 
alighted  to  enquire  and  to  tell  the  president  of 
the  Senate  that  an  august  visitor  was  waiting 
at  his  door. 

The  Tsar,  left  alone  in  his  carriage  and  de- 
lighted at  feeling  free  and  at  his  ease,  looked  out 
of  the  window  with  all  the  zest  of  a  schoolboy 
playing  truant.  He  saw  before  him  one  of  those 
picturesque  street  Arabs  who  seem  to  sprout 
between  the  paving-stones  of  Paris.  This  par- 
ticular specimen,  seated  against  the  railings,  was 
whistling  the  refrain  of  the  Russian  national 
hymn,  with  his  nose  in  the  air.  Suddenly  their 
eyes  met.  The  wondering  street-boy  sprang  to 
his  feet  :  he  had  never  seen  the  Emperor,  but  he 
had  seen  his  photograph;  and  the  likeness  was 
striking. 

"  Supposing  it  is  Nicholas,"  he  said  to  himself, 
greatly  puzzled. 

And,  as  he  was  an  inquisitive  lad,  he  resolved 
to  make  sure  without  delay.  He  took  an  heroic 
decision,  walked  up  to  within  a  yard  of  the  car- 
riage and  there,  bobbing  down  his  head,  shouted 
in  a  hoarse  voice  to  the  unknown  foreigner  : 

"  How's  the  Empress  ?  " 

Picture  his  stupefaction — for  he  really  only 
thought  that  he  was  having  a  good  joke — when 
he  heard  the  stranger  reply,  with  a  smile  : 

"  Thank  you,  the  Empress  is  very  well  and  is 
delighted  with  her  journey." 
130 


NICHOLAS   11.    AND   THE   TSARITSA 

The  boy,  then  and  there,  lost  his  tongue.  He 
stared  at  the  speaker  in  dismay;  and  then,  after 
raising  his  cap,  stalked  away  slowly  .  .  .  very 
slowly,  to  mark  his  dignity. 

Nicholas  U.  retained  a  delightful  recollection 
of  this  private  interview  with  a  true-born  Parisian, 
and  long  amused  himself  by  scandalizing  the 
formal  set  around  him  with  the  story  of  hit: 
adventure. 


If,  on  his  second  stay,  he  did  not  have  the 
occasion  of  coming  into  contact  with  the  people, 
he  none  the  less  enjoyed  the  satisfaction  of  being 
admirably  received. 

The  incidents  of  the  first  day  of  this  memorable 
visit,  from  the  moment  when,  on  the  deck  of 
the  Standart,  lying  off  Dunkirk,  the  sovereigns, 
according  to  custom,  received  the  salute  of  the 
sailors  and  the  blessing  of  the  old  pope  in  his 
violet  cassock  :  these  incidents  have  been  too 
faithfully  chronicled  in  the  press  for  me  to 
linger  over  them  here.  It  was  a  magnificent 
landing,  amid  the  thunder  of  the  guns  and 
the  hurrahs  of  the  enthusiastic  populace.  Then 
came  the  journey  from  Dunkirk  to  Compiegne, 
a  real  triumphal  progress,  in  which  the  cheers 
along  the  line  seemed  to  travel  almost  as  fast 
as  the  train,  for  they  were  linked  from  town 
to  town,  from  village  to  village,  from  farm  to 
farm.  ...  At  last  came  the  arrival,  at  nightfall, 

K2  131 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

in  the  little  illuminated  town,  followed  by  the 
torchlight  procession,  in  which  the  fantastic 
figure  of  the  red  cossack  stood  out  as  he  clung 
to  the  back  of  the  Empress's  carriage ;  the 
entrance  into  the  courtyard  of  the  chateau,  all 
ablaze  with  light;  the  slow  ascent  of  the  stair- 
cases lined  by  motionless  cuirassiers,  with  swords 
drawn,  and  powdered  footmen,  in  their  blue 
liveries  a  la  franraise ;  ^  and,  lastly,  the  pre- 
sentations, enlivened,  at  a  given  moment,  by 
the  artless  question  which  a  minister's  wife,  in 
a  great  state  of  excitement  and  only  anxious 
to  please,  addressed  to  the  Empress  : 
"  How  are  your  little  ones  ?  " 


Although  I  had  taken  up  my  duties,  which, 
as  the  reader  knows,  consisted  more  particularly 
in  ensuring  the  personal  safety  of  the  Empress, 
at  the  time  of  leaving  Dunkirk,  I  had  as  yet 
caught  but  a  glimpse  of  that  gracious  lady.  A 
few  hours  after  our  arrival  at  the  chateau,  chance 
made  me  come  across  her;  and  she  deigned  to 
speak  to  mc.  I  doubt  whether  she  observed  my 
state  of  flurry ;  and  yet,  that  evening,  without 
knowing  it,  she  was  the  cause  of  a  strange 
hallucination  in  my  mind. 

I  had  left  the  procession  at  the  entrance  to  the 

1  The  habit  a  la  fran<^aise,  once  a  military  coat,  now  used 
purely  for  livery,  is  a  heavily  embroidered  coat,  similar  to 
that  of  an  English  flunkey,  but  of  a  less  voluminous  cut 
and  shorter. — Translator's  Note. 
132 


I  H 


NICHOLAS   II.   AND   THE   TSARITSA 

State  drawing-rooms,  in  order  to  ascertain  if 
our  orders  had  been  faithfully  carried  out  in 
and  around  the  imperial  apartments.  Gradually, 
as  I  penetrated  the  maze  of  long  and  silent 
corridors,  filled  with  my  own  officers,  impassive 
in  their  footmen's  liveries,  a  crowd  of  confused 
memories  rose  in  my  brain.  I  remembered  a 
certain  evening,  similar  to  the  present,  when  the 
palace  was  all  lit  up  for  a  celebration.  I,  at  that 
time  still  a  young  student,  had  come  to  see  my 
kinsman,  Dr.  Conneau,  physician  to  the  Emperor 
Napoleon  III.  We  were  going  along  the  same 
corridors  together,  when,  suddenly  holding  me 
back  by  the  sleeve  and  pointing  to  a  proud 
and  radiant  fair-haired  figure  that  passed  through 
the  vivid  brightness  of  a  distant  gallery,  he 
said  : 

"  The  Empress  !  " 

Now,  at  the  same  spot,  forty  years  after, 
another  voice,  that  of  one  of  my  inspectors,  came 
and  whispered  in  my  ear  : 

"  The  Empress  !  "  . 

I  started.  ...  In  front  of  me,  at  the  end  of  the 
gallery,  a  figure,  also  radiant  and  also  fair,  had 
suddenly  come  into  view.  She  continued  her 
progress,  proceeding  to  her  apartments,  followed 
by  her  ladies-in-waiting.  When  she  was  at  a 
few  yards  from  the  place  where  I  stood  motion- 
less, her  eyes  fell  upon  me ;  then  she  came  up  to 
me  and,  holding  out  her  white  and  slender 
hand  : 

"  I  am  glad  to  see  you,  M.  Paoli,"  she  said. 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

"  for  I  know  how  highly  my  dear  grandmother, 
Queen  Victoria,  used  to  think  of  you." 

What  slie  did  not  know  was  how  often  Queen 
Victoria  had  spoken  of  her  to  me.  That  great 
sovereign,  in  fact,  cherished  a  special  affection 
for  the  child  of  her  idolized  daughter,  the  Grand- 
duchess  Alice  of  Hesse.  The  child  reminded  her 
of  the  happy  time  when  the  princess  wrote  to 
her  from  Darmstadt,  on  the  day  after  the  birth 
of  the  future  Empress  of  Russia  : 

"  She  is  the  personification  of  her  nickname, 
*  Sunny,'  much  like  Ella,  but  a  smaller  head,  and 
livelier,  with  Ernie's  dimple  and  expression." 

Then,  a  few  days  later  : 

"  We  think  of  calling  her  Alix  (Alice  they 
pronounce  too  dreadfully  in  Germany)  Helena 
Louisa  Beatrice ;  and,  if  Beatrice  may,  we  would 
like  to  have  her  for  godmother." 

And  these  charming  and  touching  letters 
continued  through  the  years  that  followed.  The 
baby  had  grown  into  a  little  girl,  the  little  girl 
into  a  young  girl;  and  her  mother  kept  Queen 
Victoria  informed  of  the  least  details  concerning 
the  child.  She  was  anxious,  fond  and  proud  by 
turns;  and  over  and  over  again  she  asked  for 
advice  : 

"  I  strive  to  bring  her  up  totally  free  from 
pride  of  her  position,  which  is  nothing  save  what 
her  personal  merit  can  make  it.  I  feel  so  entirely 
134 


NICHOLAS   II.   AND   THE   TSARITSA 

as  you  do  on  the  difference  of  rank  and  how  all 
important  it  is  for  Princes  and  Princesses  to 
know  that  they  are  nothing  better  or  above 
others  save  through  their  own  merit,  and  that 
they  have  only  the  double  duty  of  living  for 
others  and  of  being  an  example,  good  and 
modest." 

Next  come  further  charming  details.  Princess 
Alice,  returning  to  her  children  at  Darmstadt 
after  a  visit  to  England,  writes  to  the  Queen  : 

"  They  eat  me  up  !  They  had  made  wreaths 
over  the  doors  and  had  no  end  of  things  to  tell  me. 

"  We  arrived  at  three,  and  there  was  not  a 
moment's  rest  till  they  were  all  in  bed  and  I  had 
heard  the  different  prayers  of  the  six,  with  all  the 
different  confidences  they  had  to  make." 

Elsewhere,  interesting  particulars  about  the 
education  of  Princess  Alix,  an  exclusively  English 
education,  very  simple  and  very  healthy,  the 
programme  of  which  included  every  form  of 
physical  exercise,  such  as  bicycling,  skating, 
tennis  and  riding,  and  allowed  her,  by  way  of 
pocket-money,  fifty  Pfennigs  a  week  between  the 
ages  of  four  and  eight;  one  Mark  from  eight  to 
twelve ;  and  two  Marks  from  twelve  to  sixteen. 

In  the  twenty-nine  years  that  had  passed  since 
the  first  of  these  letters  was  written,  what  a 
number  of  events  had  occurred  !  Princess  Alice, 
that  admirable  mother,  had  died  from  kissing 
her  son    Ernie,    who   was   suffering   from  diph- 

135 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

theria;  the  royal  grandmother,  in  her  turn, 
had  died  quite  recently.  Of  the  seven  children 
whose  gaiety  brightened  the  domestic  charm 
of  the  little  court  at  Darmstadt,  two  had 
perished  in  a  tragic  fashion  :  Prince  Fritz  first, 
killed  by  an  accidental  fall  from  a  window,  while 
playing  with  his  brother;  and  Princess  May, 
carried  off  in  twenty-four  hours,  she,  too,  by 
diphtheria  caught  at  the  bedside  of  her  sister 
''  Aliky,"  the  present  Empress  of  Russia.  As  for 
the  other  "  dear  little  ones,"  as  Queen  Victoria 
called  them,  they  had  all  been  dispersed  by  fate. 
"  Ella  "  had  become  the  Grand-duchess  Serge 
of  Russia;  "  Ernie  "  had  succeeded  his  father  on 
the  throne  of  Hesse ;  two  of  his  three  remaining 
sisters  had  married,  one  Prince  Henry  of  Prussia, 
the  other  Prince  Louis  of  Battenberg;  and  the 
youngest  had  become  the  wearer  of  the  heaviest 
of  all  crowns.  And  now  chance  placed  her  here, 
before  me. 

I  looked  at  her  with,  in  my  mind,  the  memory 
of  the  letters  which  an  august  and  kindly  con- 
descension had  permitted  me  to  read  and  of  the 
gentle  emotion  with  which  the  good  and  great 
Queen  used  to  speak  of  the  Princess  Alice  and  of 
her  daughter,  the  present  Empress  of  Russia. 
Her  features  had  not  yet  acquired,  under  the 
imperial  diadem,  that  settled  air  of  melancholy 
which  the  obsession  of  a  perpetual  danger  was 
to  bestow  upon  her  later :  in  the  brilliancy  of  her 
full-blown  youth,  which  set  a  glad  pride  upon 
her  tall,  straight  forehead;  in  the  golden  sheen 
136 


NICHOLAS   TL    AND   THE   TSARITSA 

of  her  queenly  hair ;  in  her  grave  and  limpid  blue 
eyes,  through  which  flashed  gleams  of  sprightly 
fancy ;  in  her  smile,  still  marked  by  the  dimples 
of  her  girlish  days,  I  recognized  her  to  whom  the 
fond  imagination  of  a  justly-proud  mother  had 
awarded,  in  her  cradle,  the  pretty  nickname  of 
"  Sunny." 

She  stood  talking  to  me  for  a  few  moments. 
Before  moving  away,  she  said  : 

"  I  believe  you  are  commissioned  to  '  look 
after  '  me  ?  " 

"  That  is  so,  Ma'am,"  I  replied. 

"  I  hope,"  she  added,  laughing,  "  that  I  shall 
not  give  you  too  much  worry." 

I  dared  not  confess  to  her  that  it  was  not  only 
worry,  but  perpetual  anguish  that  her  presence 
and  the  Tsar's  were  causing  us. 

6 

We  had  to  be  continually  on  the  watch,  to 
have  safe  men  at  every  door,  in  every  passage, 
on  every  floor ;  we  had  to  superintend  the  smallest 
details.  I  remember,  for  instance,  standing  by 
for  nearly  two  hours  while  the  Empress's  dresses 
were  being  unpacked,  so  great  was  our  fear  lest 
a  disguised  bomb  might  be  slipped  into  one 
of  the  sovereign's  numerous  trunks  while  the 
women  were  arranging  the  gowns  in  the  special 
presses  and  cupboards  intended  to  receive  them. 
Lastly,  day  and  night,  we  had  to  go  on  constant 
rounds,  both  inside  and  outside  the  chateau. 

137 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

On  the  occasion  of  one  of  these  minute  investi- 
gations, I  met  with  a  rather  interesting  adventure. 
Not  far  from  the  apartments  reserved  for  the 
Empress  Alexandra's  ladies  was  an  unoccupied 
room,  the  door  of  which  was  locked.  It  appeared 
that,  during  the  Empire,  this  room  had  been 
used  by  Mme.  Bruat,  the  Prince  Imperial's 
governess,  widow  of  Admiral  Bruat.  At  a  time 
when  every  apartment  in  the  chateau  was 
thrown  open  for  the  visit  of  our  imperial  guests, 
why  did  this  one  alone  remain  closed  ?  I  was 
unable  to  say.  In  any  case,  my  duty  obliged 
me  to  leave  no  corner  unexplored;  and,  on  the 
first  evening,  I  sent  for  a  bunch  of  keys.  After 
a  few  ineffectual  attempts,  the  lock  yielded,  the 
door  opened  .  .  .  and  imagine  my  bewilderment ! 
In  a  charming  disorder,  tin  soldiers,  dancing-dolls, 
rocking-horses  and  beautiful  picture-books  lay 
higgledy-piggledy  in  the  middle  of  the  room, 
around  a  great  big  ugly  plush  bear  ! 

I  enquired  and  found  that  they  were  the  Prince 
Imperial's  toys  :  they  had  been  left  there  and 
forgotten  for  thirty  years.  And  an  interesting 
coincidence  was  that  the  big  bear  was  the  last 
present  made  by  the  Tsar  Alexander  II.  to  the 
little  prince. 

I  softly  closed  the  door  which  I  had  opened 
upon  the  past  :  I  resolved  to  respect  those  play- 
things; there  are  memories  which  are  better 
left  unawakened. 

The  next  morning,  chance  allowed  me  to  assist 
at  a  sight  which  many  a  photographer  would 
138 


NICHOLAS   II.    AND   THE   TSARITSA 

have  been  glad  to  "  snap."     The  Tsar  and  the 
Tsaritsa,  who  are  both  very  early  risers,  had  gone 
down  to  the  garden,  accompanied  by  their  great 
greyhound,    which    answered    to    the    name    of 
Loiki.     The  Tsar  was  expected  to  go  shooting 
that  morning,  in  anticipation  of  which  intention 
the  keepers   had  spent  the  night  in  filling  the 
park  with  pheasants,  roedeer  and  hares.      Their 
labours  were  wasted  :    Nicholas  II.  preferred  to 
stroll  round  the  lawns  with  the  Empress.     She 
was    bare-headed    and    had   simply    put    up    a 
parasol  against  the  sun,  which  was  shining  with 
dazzling  brightness ;   she  carried  a  camera  slung 
over  her  shoulder.     The    young    couple,    whom 
I   followed   hidden    behind  a  shrubbery,  turned 
their     steps      towards     the     covered     walk     of 
hornbeams  which    Napoleon  I.  had    had    made 
for    Marie-Louise.     They    hoped,    no    doubt,  to 
find,  in   the  shade  of  this  beautiful   leafy  vault, 
which    autumn    was    already    decking    with    its 
copper  hues,   a   discreet   solitude   suited  to  the 
billing  and  cooing  of  the  pair  of  lovers  that  they 
were.  .  .  .  But  the  departments  of  public  ceremon 
and  public  safety  were  on  the  look-out :  already, 
inside  the  bosky  tunnel,  fifty  soldiers,  commanded 
by  a  lieutenant,  were  presenting  arms  ! 

The  sovereigns  had  to  make  the  best  of  a  bad 
job.  The  Emperor  reviewed  the  men  with  a 
serious  face  and  the  Empress  photographed  them 
and  promised  to  send  the  lieutenant  a  print  as 
soon  as  the  plate  was  developed.  Thereupon  the 
Tsar  and  Tsaritsa  walked   away  in  a  different 

139 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

direction.     A    charming    little    wood    appeared 
before  their  eyes.     Lofki  was  running  ahead  of 
them.     Suddenly,  a  furious  barking  was  heard; 
and    lour    gendarmes    emerged    from    behind    a 
clump  of  fir-trees  and  gave  the  military  salute  ! 

There  was  nothing  to  be  done;  and  the 
sovereigns  gaily  accepted  the  situation.  With  a 
merry  burst  of  laughter,  they  turned  on  their  heels 
and  resolved  to  go  back  to  the  chateau.  By  way 
of  consolation  the  Tsaritsa  amused  herself  by 
photographing  her  husband,  who,  in  his  turn, 
took  a  snapshot  of  his  wife. 

They  showed  no  bitterness  on  account  of  the 
disappointment  which  their  walk  must  have 
caused  them.  In  fact,  to  anybody  who  asked 
him,  on  his  return,  if  he  had  enjoyed  his  stroll, 
Nicholas  II.  contented  himself  with  saying  : 

"  Oh  yes,  the  grounds  are  beautiful ;  and  I 
now  know  what  you  mean  by  '  a  well-minded 
property  !  '  " 

While  life  was  being  arranged  in  the  great 
palace  and  every  one  settling  down  as  if  he  were 
to  stay  there  for  a  month,  instead  of  three  days ; 
while  the  head  of  the  kitchens,  acting  under 
the  inspiration  of  the  head  of  the  ceremonial 
department,  was  cudgelling  his  brains  to  bring 
his  menu  into  harmony  with  politics  by  intro- 
ducing subtle  alliances  of  French  and  Russian 
dishes;  while  the  musicians  were  tuning  their 
violins  for  the  "  gala  "  concert  of  the  evening, 
and  Mme.  Bartet,  that  divine  actress,  preparing 
to  speak  M.  Edmond  Rostand's  famous  lines 
140 


NICHOLAS   II.   AND   THE   TSARITSA 

beginning,  ""Oh!  Oh !  Void  une  imperatrice /  "  ' 
while  the  Tsaritsa,  at  first  a  little  lost  amid 
these  new  surroundings,  found  a  friend  in 
the  Marquise  de  Montebello,  our  agreeable  am- 
bassadress in  St.  Petersburg,  of  whom  people 
used  to  say  that  she  justified  Turguenieff's 
epigram  when  he  declared  that,  wherever  you  see 
a  Frenchwoman,  you  see  all  France;  while  the 
most  complete  serenity  seemed  to  reign  among  the 
inhabitants  of  the  chateau,  a  solemn  question 
was  stirring  all  men's  minds.  Would  the  Tsar 
go  to  Paris  ?  As  it  was,  the  people  of  Paris  were 
disappointed  because  the  reception  had  not  been 
held  in  the  capital,  as  in  1896.  Would  he  give 
it  the  compensation  of  a  few  hours'  visit  ?  A 
special  train  was  waiting,  with  steam  up,  in  the 
station  at  Compiegne;  long  confabulations  took 
place  between  the  Emperor  and  M.  Waldeck- 
Rousseau;  luncheon  was  prepared  at  the 
Elysee,  with  a  view  to  the  entertainment  of 
an  illustrious  guest;  secret  orders  were  given 
to  the  police.  In  short,  nobody  doubted  but 
that  Nicholas  II.  intended  to  carry  out  a  plan 
which  everybody  ascribed  to  him. 

Nothing  came  of  it.  The  Tsar  did  not  go  to 
Paris. 

This  sudden  change  of  purpose  was  interpreted 
in  different  ways.  Some  people  pretended  that 
the  prime  minister  was  at  the  bottom  of  it,  M. 
Waldeck-Rousseau  having  declared  that  he  could 
not  answer  for  the  Emperor's  safety  in  view  of 

1  "  Oho  !     Ah  empress  comes  this  way  !  " 

141 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

the  inadequate  nature  of  the  preparations.  In 
reahty,  we  never  learnt  the  true  reasons;  and  I 
have  often  asked  myself  whether  this  regrettable 
decision  should  not  be  attributed  to  the  influence 
of  "  Philippe." 

"  Philippe  "  was  a  strange,  disconcerting  being, 
who  had  something  of  the  quack  about  him  and 
something  of  the  prophet,  and  who  followed  the 
Tsar  like  a  shadow. 

His  story  was  an  astounding  one  from  start 
to  finish.  He  was  a  native  of  Lyons — a  French- 
man, therefore — who  pretended,  with  the  aid 
of  mystic  practices  and  of  inner  voices  which 
he  called  forth  and  consulted,  to  cure  maladies, 
to  forestall  dangers,  to  foresee  future  events.  .  .  . 
He  gave  consultations  and  wrote  prescriptions, 
for  he  did  not  reject  the  aid  of  science.  And, 
as  he  came  within  the  law  which  forbids  the 
practice  of  medicine  by  unqualified  persons, 
he  hit  upon  the  expedient  of  marrying  his 
daughter  to  a  doctor,  who  acted  as  his  man  of 
straw.  His  waiting-room  was  never  empty  from 
the  day  when  the  Grand-duke  Nicholas  Michaelo- 
vitch,  chancing  to  pass  through  Lyons  and  to 
hear  of  this  mysterious  personage,  thought  that 
he  would  consult  him  about  his  rheumatism. 
What  happened  ?  Nobody  knows  exactly ;  but 
this  much  is  certain,  that  the  grand- duke,  on 
returning  to  Russia,  declared  that  Philippe 
had  cured  him  as  though  by  magic,  and 
that  he  possessed  the  power  not  only  of 
driving  out  pain,  but  of  securing  the  fulfilment 
142 


NICHOLAS   II.    AND   THE   TSARITSA 

of  every  wish.  .  .  The  Emperor,  at  that  time,  was 
longing  for  an  heir.  Greatly  impressed  by  his 
cousin's  stories  and  by  his  profound  conviction, 
he  resolved  to  summon  the  miracle-monger  to 
St.  Petersburg.  This  laid  the  foundation  of 
Philippe's  fortunes.  Admirably  served  by  his 
lucky  star,  highly  intelligent,  gifted  with  the 
manners  of  an  apostle  and  an  appearance  of 
absolute  disinterestedness,  he  gradually  succeeded 
in  acquiring  a  considerable  hold  not  only  on 
the  imperial  family,  but  on  the  whole  court. 
People  began  to  believe  very  seriously  in  his 
supernatural  powers.  Made  much  of  and  re- 
spected, he  had  free  access  to  the  sovereigns  and 
ended  by  supplanting  both  doctors  and  advisers. 
He  also  treated  cases  at  a  distance,  by  auto- 
suggestion. Whenever  he  obtained  leave  to  go 
home  on  a  visit,  he  kept  up  with  his  illustrious 
clients  an  exchange  of  telegrams  that  would 
tend  to  make  us  smile,  if  they  did  not  stupefy 
us  at  the  thought  of  so  much  credulity.  Thus, 
a  given  person  of  quality  would  wire  : 

"  Suffering    violent    pains  head ;    entreat  give 
relief." 

Whereupon  Philippe  would  at  once  reply  : 

"  Have  concentrated  thought  on  pain ;    expect 
cure  between  this  and  four  o'clock  to-morrow." 

This   is   not   an   invention.     I   have   seen   the 
telegrams. 

For  people   to  have   so   blind   a  faith   in  his 

143 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

mediation,  he  must  obviously  have  effected  a 
certain  number  of  cures.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I 
beheve  that  the  power  of  the  will  is  such  that,  in 
certain  affections  which  depended  partly  upon 
the  nervous  system,  he  succeeded  in  suggesting 
to  a  patient  that  he  was  not  and  could  not  be  ill. 

However,  what  was  bound  to  happen  happened. 
His  star  declined  from  the  day  when  people 
became  persuaded  that  he  was  not  infallible. 
The  Tsar's  set  precipitated  his  disgrace,  when 
the  Tsaritsa  brought  another  daughter  into  the 
world,  instead  of  the  promised  son.  One  fine 
day,  Philippe  went  back  to  Lyons  for  good ;  he 
died  there  a  few  years  ago.  And,  in  the  following 
year,  the  mighty  empire  had  an  heir  ! 

At  the  time  of  the  visit  of  the  sovereigns  to 
Compiegne,  he  was  still  at  the  height  of  his 
favour.  He  accompanied  our  imperial  hosts; 
and  his  presence  at  the  chateau  surprised  us  as 
much  as  anything.  In  fact,  like  the  Doge  of 
Venice  who  came  to  Versailles  under  Louis  XIV., 
Philippe  himself  might  have  said  : 

"  What  astonishes  me  most  is  to  see  myself 
here  !  " 

But  Philippe  was  astonished  at  nothing. 
Anxious  to  retain  his  personality  in  the  midst 
of  that  gold-laced  crowd,  he  walked  about  the 
apartments  in  a  grey  suit  and  brown  shoes  :  on 
the  first  day,  he  was  within  an  ace  of  being 
arrested ;   we  took  him  for  an  anarchist ! 

Our  extreme  distrust,  to  which  the  unfortunate 
Philippe  nearly  fell  a  victim,  was  onlv  too  well 
144 


NICHOLAS   II.   AND   THE   TSARITSA 

justified.  I  believe  that  I  am  not  guilty  of  an 
indiscretion — for  the  memorable  events  of  1901 
are  now  a  matter  of  history — when  I  say  to-day 
that  there  was  an  attempt,  an  attempt  of  which 
our  guests  never  heard,  because  a  miraculous 
accident  enabled  us  to  defeat  its  execution  in  the 
nick  of  time. 

It  was  in  the  cathedral  of  Rheims  that  the 
criminal  effort  was  to  be  accomplished  during 
the  visit  of  the  sovereigns,  who  had  expressed  a 
desire  to  see  the  inside  of  that  exquisite  fabric. 
On  learning  of  Their  Majesties'  intention,  our 
colleagues  of  the  Russian  police  displayed  the 
greatest  nervousness : 

"  Nothing  could  be  easier,"  they  told  us,  a  few 
days  before  the  visit,  "than  for  a  terrorist  to 
deposit  a  bomb  in  some  dark  place,  under  a  chair, 
behind  a  confessional,  or  at  the  foot  of  a  statue.  .  . 
The  interior  of  the  cathedral  must  be  watched 
from  this  moment,  together  with  the  people  who 
enter  it." 

Although  we  had  already  thought  of  this,  they 
decided,  on  their  part,  to  entrust  this  task  to  an 
"  informer  " — in  other  words,  a  spy — of  Belgian 
nationality,  who  had  joined  the  Russian  detective- 
service.  Hcnnion,  who  was  always  prudent, 
hastened,  in  his  turn,  to  set  a  watch  on  the 
"  informer."  Twenty-four  hours  later,  one  of 
his  men  came  to  see  him  in  a  great  state  of 
fright : 

"  M.   Hennion,"   he   said,    "  I   have   obtained 

proofs  that  the  '  informer  '  is  connected  with  a 
L  145 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

gang  of  terrorists.  They  are  preparing  an  attack 
in  the  cathedral  !  " 

Hennion  did  not  hesitate  for  a  moment.  He 
hastened  to  Rlieims,  instituted  a  poHce-search 
in  a  room  which  the  "  informer  "  had  secretly 
hired  under  a  false  name  and  seized  a  correspond- 
ence which  left  no  doubt  whatever  as  to  the 
existence  of  the  plot.  The  "  informer  "  himself 
was  to  do  the  dirty  work  ! 

He  was  at  once  arrested  and  pressed  with 
questions  : 

"  I  swear  that  I  know  nothing  about  it,"  he 
exclaimed,  "  and  that's  the  plain  truth  !  " 

"  Very  well,"  said  Hennion,  who  held  absolute 
proofs.  "  Take  this  man  to  prison,  since  he's 
telling  the  truth,  and  bring  him  back  when  he 
decides  to  tell  a  lie." 

The  next  day,  the  man  confessed. 

This  was  the  only  tragic  episode  that  occurred 
during  the  imperial  visit.  Nevertheless,  in  spite 
of  the  satisfaction  which  we  had  felt  at  receiving 
the  Tsar  and  Tsaritsa,  we  heaved  a  sigh  of  relief 
when,  on  the  following  day,  we  saw  the  train 
that  was  to  take  them  back  to  Russia  steam  out 
of  the  station. 

They  were  still  alive,  God  be  praised,  but 
that  was  almost  more  than  could  be  said  of  us  ! 


146 


CHAPTER   V 

THE    KING    AND   QUEEN   OF   ITALY 
1 

I  HAVE  always  harboured  a  vagrant  spirit  under 
my  frock-coat  of  office.  I  find  my  pleasure  and 
relaxation  in  travelling.  And  I  took  advantage 
of  a  few  weeks'  leave  of  absence,  allowed  me 
after  the  departure  of  the  Russian  sovereigns,  to 
pay  a  visit  to  Italy. 

Shortly  after  my  arrival  at  Milan,  I  was 
strolling,  one  afternoon,  in  the  well-known 
Galleria  Vittorio-Emmanuele — that  favourite 
Milanese  and  cosmopolitan  resort,  whose  inces- 
sant and  picturesque  animation  presages  the 
gaiety,  if  not  the  charm  of  Italy — when  the 
window  of  a  glove-shop  caught  my  eye  and 
reminded  me  that  I  had  left  my  gloves  in  the 
railway-carriage.  I  thought  I  might  as  well  buy 
myself  a  new  pair;  and  I  entered  the  shop.  A 
customer  had  gone  in  before  me.  It  was  a 
lady,  young,  tall  and  slender,  quietly  but 
elegantly  dressed  in  a  plain,  dark  travelling- 
frock.  Through  the  long  blue  motor-veil  that 
close-shrouded  her  head  and  face,  a  pair  of 
eyes  gleamed,  black  and,  as  I  thought,  large 
and  beautiful;  her  hair  was  dark  and,  as  far  as 
L2  147 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

I  could  see,  there  were  masses  of  it ;  the  features 
seemed  refined  and  pretty.  Leaning  on  the 
counter,  she  tried  on  the  gloves  which  a  young 
shop-assistant  handed  her.  None  of  them 
fitted. 

"  They  are  too  large,"  she  said,  shyly. 
"That  is  because  the  signora  has  so  small  a 
hand,"  replied  the  young  assistant,  gallantly. 

She  smiled  and  did  not  answer;  an  elderly 
lady  who  was  with  her  gave  the  youth  an  indig- 
nant and  scandalized  glance.  After  patiently 
allowing  the  measure  to  be  taken  of  her  hand, 
open  and  closed — it  was  indeed  a  very  small 
one — she  ended  by  finding  two  pairs  of  gloves  to 
suit  her,  paid  for  them  and  went  out. 

Just  then,  the  owner  of  the  shop  returned. 
He  looked  at  the  lady,  gave  a  bewildered  start, 
bowed  very  low  and,  as  soon  as  she  was  gone, 
shouted  to  his  assistant : 

"  Have  you  the  least  idea  whom  you  have  been 
serving  ?  " 

''  A  very  pretty  woman,  I  know  that  !  " 
"  Idiot  !     It  was  the  Queen  !  " 
The    Queen  !      It    was    my   turn   to    feel   be- 
wildered.     The   Queen,   alone,    unprotected,    in 
that  arcade  full  of  people  !     I  was  on  the  point 
of  following   her,   from    professional   habit,   for- 
getting  that  I  was  at  Milan  not  as  an  official, 
but  as  a  private  tourist.     A  still  more  important 
reason  stopped  my  display  of  zeal  ;   it  was  too 
late  ;    the    charming    vision    was    lost    in    the 
crowd. 
148 


THE   KING   AND    QUEEN   OF   ITALY 


The  next  evening,  I  was  dining  at  a  friend's 
house,  where  the  guests  belonged,  for  the  most 
part,  to  the  official  and  political  world.  When  I 
related  my  adventure  and  expressed  my  astonish- 
ment at  having  met  the  sovereign  making  her  own 
purchases  in  town,  accompanied  by  a  stern-faced 
lady-in-waiting  : 

"  Did  that  surprise  you  ?  "  I  was  asked.  "  It 
does  not  surprise  us  at  all.  One  of  our  haughty 
princesses  of  the  House  of  Savoy  has  said,  sarcas- 
tically, that  we  have  gone  back  to  the  times  when 
kings  used  to  mate  with  shepherdesses.  That 
was  merely  a  disrespectful  sally.  The  truth 
is  that  both  our  King  and  Queen  have  very 
simple  tastes  and  like  to  live  as  ordinary  people, 
in  so  far  as  their  obligations  permit  them.  Let 
me  give  you  an  instance  in  point  :  whenever 
they  come  to  Milan — and  they  never  stay  here  for 
longer  than  two  or  three  days — they  go  to  the 
royal  palace,  of  course,  but,  instead  of  living  in 
the  State  apartments  and  bringing  a  large  number 
of  servants  with  them,  they  prefer  to  occupy 
just  a  few  rooms,  have  their  meals  sent  in 
from  the  Ristorante  Cova  and  order  the  dishes 
all  to  be  brought  up  at  the  same  time  and 
placed  on  a  sideboard.  Then  they  dismiss  the 
servants,  shut  the  doors  and  wait  upon  them- 
selves." 

In  our  sunny  countries — I  can  speak  for  them, 

as  a  Corsican — we  love  pomp  and  ceremonv.     I 

'  149 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

seemed  to  observe  in  the  friends  who  gave  me  this 
striking  illustration  of  the  royal  simplicity  a 
touch  of  bitterness,  perhaps  of  regret.  Remarks 
that  reached  my  ears  later  made  me  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  aristocracy,  if  not  the  people, 
disapproved  of  their  sovereign's  democratic 
tendencies,  which  contrasted  with  the  ways  of 
the  old  court,  of  which  Queen  Margherita  had 
been  the  soul  and  still  remained  the  living  and 
charming  embodiment. 

No  doubt,  Queen  Helena's  "  manner "  was 
entirely  different  from  that  of  Margherita  of 
Savoy,  whose  highly-developed  and  refined 
culture,  whose  apposite  wit,  whose  engaging  mode 
of  address,  built  up  of  shades  that  appealed  to 
delicate  minds,  had  attracted  to  the  Quirinal  the 
pick  of  intellectual,  artistic  and  literary  Italy 
and  held  it  bound  in  fervent  admiration.  Edu- 
cated at  tlie  court  of  her  father.  Prince  Nicholas, 
Helena  of  Montenegro  had  grown  up  amid  the 
austere  scenery  of  her  native  land,  in  constant 
contact  with  the  rugged  simplicity  of  the  Monte- 
negrin highlanders ;  her  wide-open  child-eyes  had 
never  rested  on  other  than  grave  and  manly 
faces;  her  girlhood  was  decked  not  with  fairy- 
tales, but  with  the  old,  wild  legends  of  the 
mountains,  or  else  with  epics  extolling  the  heroism 
of  those  who,  in  the  days  of  old,  had  driven  the 
foreign  invader  from  the  valleys  of  Antivari  and 
the  lofty  uplands  of  Cettinje.  At  the  age  of 
twelve,  she  was  sent  to  St.  Petersburg  to  finish 
her  studies.  There,  in  the  promiscuous  intercourse 
150 


THE   KING   AND   QUEEN   OF   ITALY 

of  a  convent  confined  to  young  ladies  of  gentle 
birth,  she  had  known  the  charm  of  friendships  that 
removed  all  differences  of  social  rank  between  her 
fellow-pupils  and  herself,  while  her  mind  opened 
out  to  the  somewhat  melancholy  beauties  of 
Slav  literature.  On  returning  to  her  country, 
she  enjoyed,  in  the  fulness  of  an  independence 
wholly  undisturbed  by  the  demands  of  etiquette, 
the  healthy  delights  of  an  open-air  life,  which  she 
divided  between  water-colour  drawing,  in  which 
she  excelled,  and  sport,  in  whicli  she  showed 
herself  fearless. 

She  saw  Italy  for  the  first  time  in  1895  and 
saw  it  through  the  gates  of  Venice,  where  her 
father  had  taken  her  on  the  occasion  of  an 
exhibition.  One  evening,  in  the  midst  of  the 
novel  and  fairy-like  scene  of  the  lagoon  arrayed 
in  its  holiday  attire,  she  beheld  the  homage  of 
a  glowing  admiration  in  the  eyes  of  the  then 
Prince  of  Naples ;  and  it  will  readily  be  conceived 
that  she  was  flurried  and  not  a  little  dazzled. 
In  the  following  year,  she  bade  farewell  to  her 
craggy  mountains  and  to  the  proud  highlanders, 
the  companions  of  her  childhood ;  and  it  will  be 
understood  that,  when  she  saw  the  gay  and 
enthusiastic  nation  of  Italy  hastening  to  welcome 
her,  the  twenty-year-old  bride,  with  all  the  hopes 
and  all  the  promises  which  she  brought  with  her, 
she  at  first  experienced  a  sense  of  shyness  and 
confusion. 

The  shyness,  I  am  told,  has  never  completely 
worn  off.     On  the  other  hand,  in  the  absence  of 

151 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

more  brilliant  outward  qualities,  Queen  Helena 
has  displayed  admirable  domestic  virtues;  she 
has  known  how  to  show  herself  a  queen  in 
all  that  regards  the  noble  and  delicate  missions 
of  devotion  and  goodness  to  the  poor  and 
lowly.  And  she  has  done  better  than  that  : 
she  has  realized  her  engrossing  duties  as  wife 
and  mother;  and  these  are  sweet  and  dear  to 
her. 

Had  things  been  otherwise,  the  king's  temper, 
which  is  quick  to  take  offence,  and  his  jealous 
fondness  would  have  suffered  cruelly.  He  too  is 
shy,  he  too  is  a  man  of  domestic  habits,  who  has 
always  avoided  society  and  pleasure.  Possessing 
none  of  the  physical  qualities  that  attract  the 
crowd,  endowed  with  an  unimaginative,  but, 
on  the  other  hand,  a  reflective  and  studious  mind, 
remarkably  well-informed,  highly-intelligent  and 
passionately  interested  in  social  problems  and 
the  exact  sciences,  none  was  readier  than  he  to 
enjoy  the  charm  of  a  peaceful  home  which  he 
had  never  known  during  his  youth.  Great 
though  the  attachment  between  the  son 
and  mother  was,  they  nevertheless  remained 
separated  by  differences  in  character,  tempera- 
ment and  ideas.  Whereas  Queen  Margherita 
kept  all  her  enthusiasm  for  art  and  literature, 
the  Prince  of  Naples  displayed,  if  not  a 
repugnance,  at  least  a  complete  indifference 
to  such  matters.  When  he  was  only  ten  years 
of  age,  he  said  to  his  piano-mistress,  Signora 
Cerasoli,  who  was  appointed  by  his  mother  and 
152 


THE   KING   AND    QUEEN   OF   ITALY 

who  vainly  struggled  to  instil  the  first  principles 

of  music  into  his  mind  : 

"  Don't  you  think  that  twenty  trumpets  are 

more  effective  than  that  piano  of  yours  ?  " 

To  make  amends,  lie  showed  from  his  earliest 

youth  a  marked  predilection  for  military  science. 

He   had   the   soul   of   a   soldier   and   submitted, 

without  a  murmur,  to  the  strict  discipline  imposed 

upon  him  by  his  tutor,  Colonel  Osio.     He  is  still 

fond    of    relating,    as    one    of    the    pleasantest 

memories  of  his  life,   the  impression  which  he 

felt  on  the  day  when  King  Humbert  first  entrusted 

him  with  the  command  of  a  company  of  foot  at 

the  annual  review  of  the  Roman  garrison  : 

"  The    excitement  interfered  so    greatly  with 

my  power  of  sight,"   he  says,   "  that  the  only 

people  I  recognized  in  the  cheering  crowd  were 

my  dentist  and  my  professor  of  mathematics." 

'  His  keen  love  of  the  army  became  manifest 

when,  as  heir  apparent,  he  received  the  command 

of    the    army-corps    of    Naples.     Frivolous    and 

light-headed  Neapolitan  society  looked  forward 

to  receiving  a  worldly-minded  prince  and  rejoiced 

accordingly ;  but  it  soon  discovered  its  mistake  : 

the   prince,    scorning   pleasure,    devoted   himself 

exclusively  to  his  profession  and  left  his  barracks 

only  to  go   straight  back  to  the   Capodimonte 

Palace,  where  he  spent  his  spare  time  in  perfecting 

himself  in  the  study  of  military  tactics. 

When,   at  last,   the  tragedy  of  Monza  called 

him  suddenly  to  the  throne,  the  manliness  of  his 

attitude,  the  firmness  of  his  character  and  the 

153 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

soberness  of  his  mind  impressed  the  uneasy  and 
disunited  world  of  poHtics.  He  insisted  upon 
drawing  up  his  first  proclamation  to  the  Italian 
people  with  his  own  hand  and  in  it  proved  himself 
a  man  of  the  times,  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
the  needs  and  aspirations  of  modern  Italy. 

"  I  know,"  he  said  to  Signor  Crispi,  a  few  days 
after  his  accession,  "  I  know  all  the  responsi- 
bilities of  my  station  and  I  would  not  presume 
to  think  that  I  can  remedy  the  present  difficulties 
with  my  own  unaided  strength.  But  I  am 
convinced  that  those  difficulties  all  spring  from 
one  cause.  In  Italy,  there  are  few  citizens  who 
perform  their  duty  strictly  :  there  is  too  much 
indolence,  too  much  laxity.  Italy  is  at  a  serious 
turning-point  in  her  history  :  she  is  eaten  up  with 
politics;  she  must  absolutely  direct  her  energies 
towards  the  development  of  her  economic  re- 
sources. Her  industries  will  save  her  by  improv- 
ing her  financial  position  and  employing  all  the 
hands  at  present  lying  idle  in  an  inactivity  that 
has  lasted  far  too  long.  I  shall  practise  what  I 
preach  by  scrupulously  following  my  trade  as 
king,  by  encouraging  initiative  and  especially  by 
encouraging  the  social  and  economic  evolution  of 
the  country." 

Let  me  do  him  this  justice  :  he  has  kept  his 
promises.  A  powerful  will  soon  made  itself  con- 
spicuous under  that  frail  exterior.  He  applied  to 
the  consideration  of  every  subject  the  ardour 
of  an  insatiable  curiosity  and  his  wish  to  know 
things  correctly  and  thoroughly.  He  studied  the 
154 


THE   KING   AND    QUEEN   OF   ITALY 

confused  conditions  of  Italian  parliamentary  life 
with  as  much  perseverance  as  the  social  question. 
It  is  possible  that,  by  democratizing  the  monarchy, 
he  has  forestalled  popular  movements  which, 
in  a  country  so  passionate  in  its  opinions  and  so 
exuberant  in  their  manifestation  as  Italy,  might 
have  caused  irreparable  disorders  and  delayed 
the  magnificent  progress  of  the  nation. 

Pondering  over  these  serious  problems,  his 
vigilant  and  studious  mind  sought  relaxation 
and,  at  times,  consolation  and  encouragement 
for  its  rough  task  in  the  ever-smiling  intimacy  of 
the  home.  It  resolved  that  this  home  should  be 
impenetrable  to  others,  so  impenetrable  that  it 
excluded  the  sovereign  and  a  fortiori  his  official 
"set "  :  the  husband  and  father  alone  are  admitted. 
This  is  the  secret  of  that  close  union  which  has 
made  people  say  of  the  Italian  royal  couple  that 
they  represent  the  perfect  type  of  a  middle-class 
household  which  has  found  its  way  by  accident 
into  a  king's  palace. 

I  have  tried  to  give  a  psychological  picture  of 
the  two  sovereigns,  arising  from  the  impressions 
which  I  picked  up  in  the  course  of  my  trip  to  Italy. 
Their  visit  to  Paris  was  destined  to  confirm  its 
accuracy  and  to  complete  its  details. 


3 

I  little  thought,  on  the  afternoon  when  I  caught 

so  unexpected  a  glimpse  of  Queen  Helena  in  a 

Milan  glove-shop,  that,  two  years  later,  I  was  to 

155 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

have  the  honour  of  attending  both  Her  Majesty 
and  the  King  during  their  journey  to  France. 
It  was  their  first  visit  to  Paris  in  state ;  and  our 
government  attached  considerable  importance 
to  this  event,  which  accentuated  tlie  scope  of 
what  Prince  von  Billow,  at  that  time  chancellor 
of  the  German  Empire,  called,  none  too  good- 
humouredly,  Italy's  "  little  waltz  "  with  France. 

The  letter  of  appointment  which  I  received  at 
the  beginning  of  October  1903  directed  me  to  go 
at  once  and  await  our  guests  at  the  Italian  fron- 
tier and  to  bring  them  safely  to  Paris.  It  was 
pitch-dark,  on  a  cold,  wet  night,  when  the  royal 
train  steamed  out  of  the  Mont-Cenis  tunnel  and 
pulled  up  at  the  platform  of  the  frontier- station 
of  Modane,  where  I  had  been  pacing  up  and  down 
for  over  an  hour.  My  curiosity  was  stimulated, 
I  must  confess,  by  the  recollection  of  the  episode 
in  the  Galleria  Vittorio-Emmanuele  at  Milan. 
Amused  by  the  chance  which  was  about  to  bring 
me  face  to  face  with  "  the  lady  of  the  gloves," 
I  was  longing  to  know  if  my  first  impressions  were 
correct  and  if  the  features  which  I  had  conjec- 
tured, rather  than  perceived,  behind  the  blue  veil 
were  really  those  which  I  should  soon  be  able  to 
view  in  the  full  light. 

The  blinds  of  the  eight  royal  railway-carriages 
were  lowered ;  not  a  sign  betrayed  the  presence 
of  living  beings  in  the  silent  train.  After  a 
long  moment,  a  carriage-door  opened  and  a 
giant,  in  a  long,  pale-grey  cavalry  cloak  and 
a  blue  forage-cap  braided  with  scarlet  piping 
15G 


THE   KING   AND   QUEEN   OF   ITALY 

and  adorned  with  a  gold  tassel,  stepped  out  softly 
and,  making  straight  for  me,  said  : 

"  Hush  !     They  are  asleep." 

It  was  two  o'clock  in  the  morning.  The  first 
official  reception  had  been  arranged  to  take  place 
at  Dijon,  where  we  were  due  to  arrive  at  nine 
o'clock.  I  took  my  seat  in  the  train  and  we 
started.  Not  everybody  was  asleep.  In  the  last 
carriage,  which  was  reserved  for  the  servants,  a 
number  of  maids,  wrapped  in  those  beautiful  red 
shawls  which  you  see  on  the  quays  at  Naples, 
were  chattering  away,  with  the  greatest  ani- 
mation, in  Italian.  The  echoes  of  that  musical 
and  expressive  language  reached  the  compart- 
ment in  which  I  was  trying  to  doze  and  called  up 
memories  of  my  childhood  in  my  old  Corsican 
heart. 

It  was  broad  daylight  and  we  were  nearing 
Dijon,  when  Count  Guicciardini,  the  King's 
master  of  the  horse,  came  to  fetch  me  to  present 
me  to  the  sovereigns. 

Two  black,  grave,  proud  and  gentle  eyes;  a 
forehead  framed  in  a  wealth  of  dark  hair ;  beauti- 
ful and  delicate  features;  a  smile  that  produced 
two  little  dimples  on  either  side  of  the  mouth; 
a  tall,  slight  figure  :  I  at  once  recognized  the  lady 
of  Milan  in  the  charming  sovereign,  stately  and 
shy,  who  came  stepping  towards  me.  It  was  the 
same  little  white  hand  that  she  put  out  again, 
this  time,  however,  that  I  might  press  upon  it 
the  homage  of  my  respectful  welcome.     Should 

I  recall  the  incident  of  the  gloves  ?     I  had  it  on 

157 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

my  lips  to  do  so.  ...  I  was  afraid  of  appearing 
ridiculous  :  of  course,  she  would  not  remember. 
...  I  said  nothing. 

"  Delighted,  M.  Paoli,  delighted  to  know  you  !  " 
exclaimed  the  King,  fixing  me  with  his  piercing 
eyes  and  shaking  me  vigorously  by  the  hand. 

"  Sir  .  .  ." 

"  But  stay :  Paoli  is  an  Italian  name  !  " 

"  Very  nearly,  Sir  :  I  am  a  Corsican." 

"  A  fellow-countryman  of  Napoleon's,  then  ? 
I  congratulate  you  !  " 

Our  conversation,  that  morning,  was  confined 
to  these  few  words.  From  Dijon  onwards,  the 
journey  assumed  an  ofBcial  character;  and  I  lost 
sight  of  the  King  and  Queen  amid  the  crowd  of 
glittering  uniforms.  However,  a  few  minutes 
before  our  arrival  at  Paris,  I  surprised  them  both 
standing  against  a  window-pane,  the  Queen  in  an 
exquisite  costume  of  pale-grey  velvet  and  silk, 
the  King  in  the  uniform  of  an  Italian  general, 
with  the  broad  ribbon  of  the  Legion  of  Honour 
across  his  chest.  While  watching  the  landscape, 
they  exchanged  remarks  that  appeared  to  me  to 
be  of  an  affectionate  nature. 

Meanwhile,  a  sedate  footman  entered  and  dis- 
creetly placed  upon  the  table,  behind  the  sove- 
reigns, an  extraordinary  object  that  attracted  my 
eyes.  It  looked  like  an  enormous  bird  buried 
in  its  feathers  :  it  was  at  one  and  the  same  time 
resplendent  and  voluminous.  I  came  closer  and 
then  saw  that  it  was  a  helmet,  just  a  helmet, 
covered  with  feathers  of  fabulous  dimensions. 
158 


THE   KING  AND   QUEEN   OF   ITALY 

And,  indeed,  I  was  not  the  only  one  to  be 
astonished  at  the  imposing  proportions  of  this 
head-dress  :  whenever  the  King  donned  it  in 
Paris,  it  achieved  a  huge  success ;  it  towered  above 
the  crowds,  the  Hvery-servants'  cockades,  the 
soldiers'  bayonets ;  it  became  the  target  of  every 
kodak. 

The  Queen's  shyness  ?  The  occasion  soon 
offered  to  observe  it;  in  fact,  that  solemn  entry 
into  Paris  was  enough  to  make  any  young  woman, 
queen  or  no  queen,  shy.  The  authorities  wished 
to  make  the  greatest  effect  possible  and  sent  the 
procession  down  the  Avenue  du  Bois  de  Boulogne 
and  the  Champs-filysees.  No  doubt,  the  charm- 
ing sovereign  was  deeply  impressed  and  a  little 
bewildered ;  but  the  warmth  of  the  welcome,  the 
heartiness  of  the  cheering  afforded  her,  as  well 
as  her  consort,  a  visible  pleasure ;  and,  from  that 
very  first  day,  she  was  full  of  pretty  thoughts 
and  he  of  generous  movements.  At  a  certain 
moment,  she  took  a  rose  from  a  bouquet  of  roses 
de  France  which  she  was  carrying  and  gave  it  to 
a  little  girl  who  had  thrust  herself  close  to  the 
carriage.  He,  on  the  other  hand,  walked  straight 
to  the  colours  of  the  battalion  of  zouaves  who- 
were  presenting  arms  in  the  courtyard  of  the 
Foreign  Office  and  raised  to  his  lips  the  folds  of 
the  standard  on  which  were  inscribed  two  names 
dear  to  Italian  hearts  and  French  memories 
alike  :  Magenta  and  Solferino. 

The   Foreign  Office   was  turned    into   a  royal 
palace  for  the  occasion  of  this  visit.     While  the 

159 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

government  had  endeavoured  to  decorate  in  the 
most  sumptuous  possible  style  the  apartments 
which  the  King  and  Queen  of  Italy  were  to 
occupy  on  the  first  floor,  Mme.  Delcasse,  the 
wife  of  the  foreign  minister,  on  her  side,  did 
her  best  to  relieve  the  somewhat  cold  and  solemn 
appearance  of  the  rooms.  With  this  object,  she 
procured  photographs  of  the  little  Princesses 
Yolanda  and  IMafalda  and  placed  them  in  hand- 
some frames  on  the  Queen's  dressing-table.  The 
Queen  was  greatly  touched  by  the  delicate  atten- 
tion. On  entering  the  room,  she  uttered  a  spon- 
taneous exclamation  that  betrayed  all  a  mother's 
fondness  : 

"  Oh,  the  children  !     How  delightful !  " 

The  children !  How  often  those  words  returned 
to  her  lips  during  her  stay  in  Paris  !  She  spoke 
of  them  incessantly,  she  spoke  of  them  to  every- 
body, to  Madame  Loubet,  to  Madame  Delcasse, 
to  the  Italian  ambassadress,  even  to  the  two 
French  waiting-maids  attached  to  her  service  : 

"  Yolanda,  the  elder,  with  her  black  hair  and 
her  black  eyes  is  like  me,"  she  would  explain. 
"  Mafalda,  on  the  other  hand,  is  the  image  of  her 
father.     They  both  have  such  good  little  hearts." 

Her  maternal  anxiety  was  also  manifested  in 
the  impatience  with  which  she  used  to  wait  for 
news  of  the  princesses.  Every  evening,  when  she 
returned  to  the  Foreign  Office  after  a  day  of  drives 
and  visits  in  different  parts  of  Paris,  her  first 
words  were  : 

"  My  wire  ?  " 
160 


THE   KING   AND   QUEEN   OF   ITALY 

And,  a  little  nervously,  she  opened  the  telegram 
that  was  dispatched  to  her  daily  from  San 
Rossone,  where  "  the  children  "  were,  and 
greedily  read  the  bulletin  of  reassuring  news 
which   it  contained. 

On  the  morning  of  her  arrival,  she  rang  for 
a  maid  as  soon  as  she  woke  up  : 

"  I  have  an  old  friend  in  Paris,"  she  said, 
"whom   I   want   to  see;    it   is   my   old   French 

mistress.   Mile.   E .     She  lives  on  the  Quai 

Voltaire  :  please  have  her  sent  for." 

An  attache  hastened  off  at  once  and,  in 
half-an-hour,  returned  triumphantly  with  Mile. 

E ,    a    charming    old    lady    who    had   once 

been  governess  to  Princess  Helena  of  Montenegro 
at  Cettinje.  She  had  not  seen  her  for  ten 
years;  and  the  reader  can  imagine  her  surprise 
and  her  confusion.  The  mistress  and  pupil  threw 
themselves  into  each  other's  arms.     And,  when 

Mile.  E persisted  in  addressing  the  Queen  as 

"  Your  Majesty,"  the  latter  interrupted  her  and 
said  : 

"  Why  '  Your  Majesty  '  ?  Call  me  Helena,  as 
you  used  to  do." 

The  authorities,  conforming  to  royal  usage,  had 
considered  it  the  proper  thing  to  prepare  two 
distinct  suites  of  rooms,  one  for  the  King  and  one 
for  the  Queen,  separated  by  an  enormous  drawing- 
room.  Great  was  our  surprise  when,  on  the 
following  morning,  the  rumour  ran  through  the 
passages  of  the  Foreign  Office  that  the  King's 

bedroom    had    remained   untenanted.     Had    he 
M  161 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

found  it  uncomfortable  ?  Did  he  not  like  the 
room  ?  Every  one  began  to  be  anxious  and  it 
was  felt  that  the  mystery  must  be  cleared  up. 
I  therefore  went  to  one  of  the  officers  of  the  royal 
suite,  took  him  aside  and,  while  talking  of  "  other 
things,"  tried  to  sound  him  as  to  the  King's 
impressions  : 

"  Is  His  Majesty  pleased  with  his  apart- 
ments ?  " 

"  Delighted." 

"  Was  there  anything  wrong  with  the  heating 
arrangements  ?  " 

"  No,  nothing." 

"  Perhaps  the  King  does  not  care  for  the  bed 
provided  for  His  Majesty's  use  ?  I  hear  it  is 
very  soft  and  comfortable,  in  addition  to  being 
historic." 

"  Not  at  all,  not  at  all;  I  believe  His  Majesty 
thought  everything  perfect." 

Alas,  I  felt  that  my  hints  were  misunderstood  ! 
I  must  needs  speak  more  directly.  Without 
further  circumlocution,  therefore,  I  said  : 

"  The  fact  is,  it  appears  that  the  King  did  not 
deign  to  occupy  his  apartments." 

The  officer  looked  at  me  and  smiled  : 

"  But  the  King  never  leaves  the  Queen  !  "  he 
exclaimed.  "  With  us,  married  couples  seldom 
have  separate  rooms,  unless  when  they  are  on 
bad  terms.     And  that  is  not  the  case  here  !  " 

The  pair  were  never  parted,  in  fact,  except  at 
early  breakfast.  The  King  was  accustomed  to  take 
cafe  au  lait,  the  Queen  chocolate  :  the  first  was 
162 


THE   KING   AND    QUEEN   OF   ITALY 

served  in  the  small  sitting-room  where  the  King, 
already  dressed  in  his  general's  uniform,  went 
through  his  letters;  the  second  in  the  boudoir, 
where  the  Queen,  in  a  pink-surat  dressing-gown 
trimmed  with  lace,  devoted  two  hours,  after  her 
toilet,  each  morning,  to  her  correspondence,  or 
to  the  very  feminine  pleasure  of  trying  on  frocks 
and  hats. 

I  twice  again  had  the  honour  of  seeing  her 
shopping,  as  on  a  former  famous  occasion;  but 
this  time  I  accompanied  her  in  the  course  of 
my  professional  duties.  She  bought  no  gloves, 
but  made  up  for  it  by  purchases  of  linen,  jewels, 
numerous  knick-knacks  and  toys ;  and  one  would 
have  thought  that  she  was  buying  those  china 
dolls,  with  their  tiny  sets  of  tea-things,  for  herself, 
so  great  was  the  child-like  joy  which  she  showed 
in  their  selection  : 

"  This  is  for  Yolanda,  this  is  for  Mafalda,"  she 
said,  as  she  pointed  to  the  objects  that  were  to 
be  placed  on  one  side. 

I  saw  her  for  the  first  time  grave  and  thoughtful 
at  the  palace  at  Versailles,  which  she  and  the 
King  visited  in  the  company  of  M.  and  Mme. 
Loubet.  I  think  that  she  must  have  retained  a 
delightful  recollection  of  this  excursion  to  the 
palace  of  our  kings,  an  excursion  which  left  a 
lively  impression  on  my  own  mind.  It  seemed 
as  though  Nature  herself  had  conspired  to 
accentuate  its  charm.  The  ancestral  park  was 
shrouded  in  the  soft  rays  of  the  expiring  autumn  : 
the  trees  crowned  their  sombre  tops  with  a  few 
M2  163 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

belated  leaves  of  golden  brown;  the  distances 
were  mauve,  like  lilac  in  April;  and  the  breeze 
that  blew  from  the  west  scattered  the  water  of 
the  fountains  and  changed  it  into  feathery  tufts 
of  spray. 

The  sovereigns,  escorted  by  the  keeper  of  the 
palace,  first  visited  the  State  apartments,  stopping 
for  some  time  before  the  portraits  of  the  princes 
and  princesses  of  the  House  of  France.  And, 
in  those  great  rooms  filled  with  so  many  precious 
memories,  Queen  Helena  listened  silently  and 
eagerly  to  the  keeper's  explanations.  She  lingered 
more  particularly  in  the  private  apartments  of 
Marie- Antoinette,  where  the  most  trifling  objects 
excited  her  curiosity  :  obviously  her  imagination 
as  a  woman  and  a  queen  took  pleasure  in  this 
feminine  and  royal  past.  Sometimes,  obeying  a 
discreet  and  spontaneous  impulse,  when  the 
overpowering  memory  of  some  tragic  episode 
weighed  too  heavily  upon  our  silent  thoughts, 
she  pressed  herself  timidly  against  the  King,  as 
a  little  girl  might  do.  And  once  we  heard  her 
whisper  : 

"  Ah,  if  '  things '  could  speak  !  " 


4 

And  the  King  ?  The  King,  while  appreciating, 
as  an  expert,  the  archaeological  beauties  which  we 
had  to  show  him  and  the  imperishable  evidences 
of  our  history,  did  not  share  the  Queen's  enthu- 
siasm for  our  artistic  treasures.  When  coming 
164 


THE   KING   AND    QUEEN   OF   ITALY 

to  Paris,  he  had  looked  forward  to  two  principal 
pleasures  :  seeing  our  soldiers  and  visiting  the 
Musee  Monetaire,  or  collection  of  coins  at  our 
national  mint. 

As  is  well  known,  Victor  Emanuel  is  considered 
— and  rightly  so — an  exceedingly  capable  numis- 
matist. He  is  very  proud  of  his  title  as  honorary 
president  of  the  Italian  Numismatical  Society 
and,  in  1897,  undertook  the  task  of  drawing  up 
the  catalogue  of  the  authentic  old  coinages  of 
Italy.  He  derived  the  necessary  materials  for 
his  work  from  his  own  collection,  which  at  that 
time  consisted  of  about  forty  thousand  pieces. 
Of  the  two  hundred  and  sixty  types  of  Italian 
coinage  known,  barely  one  half  could  lay 
claim  to  absolute  genuineness;  and  the  work 
which  he  had  to  perform  in  bringing  them  to- 
gether, completing  and  authenticating  them 
was  no  light  one. 

A  rather  interesting  story  is  told  of  the  manner 
in  which  the  King,  when  still  little  more  than  a 
child,  acquired  a  taste  for  the  science  of  numis- 
matics. One  day,  he  received  a  soldo  bearing  the 
head  of  Pope  Pius  IX.,  which  he  kept.  A  little 
later,  finding  another,  he  added  it  to  the  first; 
and,  in  this  way,  he  ended  by  collecting  fifteen. 
Meanwhile,  his  father.  King  Humbert,  had  pre- 
sented him  with  some  sixty  pieces  of  old  copper 
money;  and  he  thus  formed  the  nucleus  of  his 
collection. 

Thenceforward,  at  every  anniversary,  on  his 
birthday,  at  Christmas,  at  Easter,  the  different 

165 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

members  of  the  royal  family,  who  used  to  chaff 
him  about  his  new  passion,  gave  him  coins  or 
medals.  He  made  important  purchases  on  his 
own  account;  and,  finally,  in  1900,  he  doubled 
the  dimensions  of  his  collection  at  one  stroke  by 
buying  the  inestimable  treasure  of  coins  belonging 
to  the  Marchese  Marignoli,  which  was  on  the  point 
of  being  dispersed. 

He  admits,  nevertheless,  that  the  piece  that 
represents  the  highest  value  in  his  eyes  is  a  gold 
Montenegrin  coin  struck  in  the  early  days  of  the 
Petrovich  dynasty  and  presented  to  him  by 
Princess  Helena  of  Montenegro  at  the  time  of 
their  engagement.  This  coin  is  so  rare  that  only 
one  other  specimen  is  known  to  exist:  it  is  in 
the  numismatical  gallery  at  Vienna. 

The  King,  moreover,  has  lately  enriched  his 
collection  with  an  exceedingly  rare  series  of  coins 
of  the  Avignon  popes.  They  were  sold  at  auction 
at  Frankfort;  and  a  spirited  contest  took  place 
between  buyers  acting  respectively  on  behalf  of 
King  Victor  Emanuel,  the  Pope  and  the  director 
of  our  own  gallery  of  medals. 

It  was,  therefore,  with  a  very  special  interest 
that  he  visited  our  mint,  whose  collection  is  famed 
throughout  Europe.  The  director,  knowing  that 
he  had  to  do  with  a  connoisseur,  had  taken  a  great 
deal  of  trouble ;  in  fact,  I  believe  that  he  intended 
to  "  stagger  "  the  King  with  his  erudition.  But 
he  reckoned  without  his  host,  or  rather  his  guest ; 
and,  instead  of  the  expert  dazzling  the  King,  it 
was  the  King  who  astonished  the  expert.  He 
166 


THE   KING  AND    QUEEN   OF   ITALY 

surprised  him  to  such  good  purpose,  with  the 
accuracy  and  extent  of  his  information  on  the 
subject  of  coins,  that  the  learned  director  had  to 
own  himself  beaten  : 

"  We  are  schoolboys  beside  Your  Majesty,"  he 
confessed,  in  all  humility. 

And  I  think  that  this  was  something  more  than 
a  courtier's  phrase. 

The  King,  as  I  have  said,  takes  a  keen  interest 
in  military  matters.  He  displayed  it  on  the 
occasion  of  the  review  of  the  Paris  garrison. 
He  had  appeared  bored  at  the  concert  at  the 
filysee  on  the  previous  evening,  but  made  up 
for  it  now  by  his  obvious  enjoyment  of  the 
impressive  spectacle  which  we  were  able  to 
provide  for  him  on  the  drill-ground  at  Vincennes. 
He  wished  to  ride  along  the  front  of  the 
troops  on  horseback  and  had  brought  with  him 
from  Italy,  for  this  purpose,  his  own  saddle, 
a  very  handsome  and  richly-caparisoned  military 
saddle.  The  Governor  of  Paris  having  lent  him 
a  charger,  he  proved  himself  a  first-rate  horse- 
man, for  the  animal,  unnerved  at  having  to  carry 
a  harness  heavier  than  that  to  which  it  was 
accustomed,  could  hit  upon  nothing  better  than 
to  make  a  show  of  ill- temper,  regardless  of  the 
august  quality  of  its  rider.  It  was  the  worst 
day's  work  that  that  horse  ever  did  in  its  life ;  and 
it  had  to  recognize  that  it  had  found  its  master. 

After  making  a  thorough  inspection  of  the 
troops,  by  the  side  of  the  minister  for  war,  the 
King  expressed  a  desire  to  examine  the  outfit  of 

167 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

one  of  the  soldiers ;  and  a  private  was  ordered  to 
fall  out  of  the  ranks.  Victor  Emanuel  took  up  the 
soldier's  knapsack,  handled  it,  looked  through  it 
and  made  a  movement  as  though  to  buckle  it  to 
the  man's  shoulders  again  himself,  whereat  the 
worthy  little  pioupiou,  quite  scared  and  red  with 
dismay,  cried  : 

"  Oh,  no,  thanks,  mon  .  .  .  mon.'' 

But  the  poor  fellow,  who  had  never  even  spoken 
to  a  general,  had  no  notion  how  to  address  a 
king. 

Thereupon  the  King,  greatly  amused,  made  a 
charming  reply  : 

"  Call  me  what  your  forbears,  the  French 
soldiers  in  1859,  called  my  grandfather  on  the 
night  of  the  battle  of  Palestro;  call  me  mon 
caporal !  " 

Victor  Emanuel  has  too  practical  and  matter- 
of-fact  a  mind  to  be  what  is  called  a  man  of 
sentiment.  Nevertheless,  I  saw  him  betray  a 
real  emotion  when  he  was  taken,  on  the  following 
day,  to  visit  the  tomb  of  Napoleon  I.  The  tomb 
was  surrounded  by  six  old  pensioners  carrying 
lighted  torches.  There  were  but  few  people 
there;  the  fitful  flames  of  the  torches  cast  their 
fantastic  gleams  upon  the  imperial  sarcophagus ; 
and  the  invisible  presence  of  the  Great  Conqueror 
hovered  over  us  :  it  seemed  as  though  he  would 
suddenly  rise  bodily  out  of  that  yawning  gulf 
that  coffin  of  marble,  dressed  in  his  grey  overcoat 
and  his  immemorial  hat. 

During   a  long   silence,   the   King   stood   and 
168 


THE   KING   AND    QUEEN   OF   ITALY 

dreamt,   with  bowed  head.     When  we  left  the 
chapel,  he  was  dreaming  still. 

I  had  another  striking  picture  of  Victor 
Emanuel  III.  during  the  day's  shooting  with 
which  M.  Loubet  provided  him  in  the  preserves 
at  Rambouillet.  The  King,  whose  love  of  sport 
equals  his  passion  for  numismatics,  is  a  first-rate 
shot.  He  aims  at  a  great  height,  is  careful  of  his 
cartridges  and  rarely  misses  a  bird.  According 
to  custom,  he  was  followed  at  Rambouillet  by  a 
keeper  carrying  a  second  gun,  ready  loaded,  of 
course. 

Now  it  happened  that  the  King,  seeing  a  flight 
of  pheasants,  began  by  discharging  both  barrels 
and  bringing  down  a  brace  of  birds.  He  then 
took  the  other  gun,  which  the  keeper  held  ready 
for  him,  put  it  to  his  shoulder  and  pulled  the 
trigger  :  both  shots  missed  fire.  The  keeper  had 
forgotten  to  load  the  gun!  Picture  the  rage  of 
the  sovereign,  who,  disconsolate  at  losing  his 
pheasants,  began  to  rate  the  culprit  soundly  ! 
The  unfortunate  keeper,  feeling  more  dead  than 
alive,  did  not  know  what  excuse  to  make;  and 
he  looked  upon  his  place  as  fairly  lost. 

Then  the  King,  guessing  the  man's  unspoken 
fears,  abruptly  changed  his  tone  : 

"  Never  mind,"  he  said.  "  There's  no  forgiv- 
ing you;  but  I  shall  not  say  anything  about 
it." 

The  King  was  obviously  delighted  with  his 
day's  sport.  Yet,  among  the  many  attentions 
which  we  paid  our  guests  during  their  brief  stay 

169 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

in  Paris,  one  surprise  which  we  prepared  for  them 
was,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  more  acceptable  to 
them — and  especially  to  the  Queen — ^than  any 
other.  This  surprise  consisted  in  the  recital 
before  Their  Majesties,  by  our  great  actress, 
Mme.  Bartet,  of  the  Comedie  Fran9aise,  of  an 
unpublished  poem  from  the  pen  of  .  .  .  the 
Queen  herself. 

Helena  of  Montenegro  had  been  a  poet  in 
her  leisure  hours.  At  the  time  of  her  engage- 
ment, she  wrote  a  fragment  in  Russian  which 
she  sent  to  a  St.  Petersburg  magazine,  under 
the  pseudonym  of  "  Blue  Butterfly  " ;  and  the 
magazine  printed  it  without  knowing  the  author's 
real  name.  It  was  written  in  rhythmical  prose; 
and  I  was  fortunate  enough  to  secure  a  copy  of 
the   translation : 

"  VISION 

"  The  mother  said  to  her  daughter  : 
"  '  Wouldst    know  how  the  world  is  made  ? 
Open  thine  eyes.' 

"  And  the  little  maid  opened  her  eyes.  She 
saw  lordly  and  towering  mountains,  she  saw 
valleys  full  of  delights,  she  saw  the  sun  which 
shines  upon  and  gilds  all  things,  she  saw  twinkling 
stars  and  the  deep  billows  of  the  sea,  she  saw  tor- 
rents with  foaming  waters  and  flowers  with  varied 
perfumes,  she  saw  light-winged  birds  and  the 
golden  sheaves  of  the  harvest.  Then  she  closed 
her  eyes. 
170 


THE   KING  AND    QUEEN   OF   ITALY 

"  And  then  she  saw,  she  saw  the  fairest  thing 
upon  this  earth :  the  image  of  the  beloved  who 
filled  her  heart,  the  image  of  the  beloved  who 
shone  within  her  soul,  the  image  of  the  beloved 
who  gave  his  love  in  return  for  the  love  that 
was  hers." 


This  charming  fragment  had  been  discovered 
by  a  collector  of  royal  poetry  some  time  before 
the  visit  of  the  Italian  sovereigns.  It  was 
transposed  into  French  verse;  and  M.  Loubet 
delicately  caused  it  to  be  recited  to  our  hosts 
in  the  course  of  a  reception  given  in  their 
honour  at  the  Elysee.  That  evening,  the  beauti- 
ful Queen  enjoyed  a  twofold  success,  as  a 
woman  and  a  poet. 


The  unpretending  affability  of  the  royal  couple 
was  bound  to  win  the  affections  of  the  French 
people.  The  cheers  that  greeted  them  in  their 
drives  through  Paris  increased  in  enthusiasm 
from  day  to  day  and  proved  that  they  had 
conquered  all  hearts. 

"  It  is  astonishing,"  said  an  Italian  official  to 
me,  "  but  they  are  even  more  popular  here  than 
at  home  !  " 

"  That  must  be  because  they  show  themselves 

more,"  I  replied. 

171 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

At  the  risk  of  disappointing  the  reader,  I  am 
bound  to  confess  that  no  tragic  or  even  un- 
pleasant incident  came  to  spoil  their  pleasure 
or  their  peace  of  mind.  It  appeared  that  the 
anarchist  gentry  were  allowing  themselves  a 
little  holiday. 

In  the  absence  of  the  conventional  plot,  we  had, 
it  is  true,  the  inevitable  shower  of  anonymous 
letters  and  even  some  that  were  signed.  The 
Queen,  alas,  had  done  much  to  encourage  epis- 
tolary mendicants  by  announcing  her  wish  that 
replies  should  be  sent  to  all  letters  asking  for 
assistance  and  that,  in  every  possible  case,  satis- 
faction should  be  given  to  the  writers.  The  result 
was  that  all  the  poverty-stricken  Italians  with 
whom  Paris  teems  gave  themselves  free  scope,  to 
their  hearts'  content ;  and  the  usual  fraternity  of 
French  begging-letter-writers — those  who  had 
formerly  so  artlessly  striven  to  excite  the  com- 
passion of  the  Shah  of  Persia — also  tried  what 
they  could  do. 

But  what  reply  was  it  possible  to  send  to  such 
letters  as  the  following  ? — 


"  To  Her  Majesty  the  Queen  of  Italy. 

"  Madam, 

"  We  are  a  young  married  couple, 
honest,  but  poor.  We  were  unable  to  have  a 
honeymoon,  for  lack  of  money.  It  would  be 
our  dream  to  go  to  Italy,  which  is  said  to  be  the 
172 


THE   KING   AND   QUEEN  OF   ITALY 

land  of  lovers.  We  thought  that  Your  Majesty, 
loving  your  husband  as  you  do  and,  therefore, 
knowing  what  love  means,  might  consent  to  help 
us  to  make  this  little  journey.  We  should  want 
five  hundred  francs  :  we  entreat  Your  Majesty 
to  lend  it  to  us.  When  my  husband  has  a  better 
situation — he  is  at  present  an  assistant  in  a  curio- 
sity-shop— he  will  not  fail  to  repay  Your  Majesty 
the  money. 

"  Pray,  Madam,  accept  the  thanks  of 
"  Your  Majesty's  respectful  and  grateful  servant, 

"  Marie  G , 

"  Poste  Restante  370,  Paris." 


"  To  His  Majesty  the  King  of  Italy. 

"  Sir, 

"  I  am  a  young  painter  full  of  ambition 
and  said  to  be  not  devoid  of  talent.  I  am  very 
anxious  to  see  Rome  and  to  study  its  artistic 
masterpieces.  Not  possessing  the  necessary 
means,  I  am  writing  to  ask  if  you  would  not  give 
me  an  employment  of  any  kind,  even  in  the 
service  of  the  royal  motor-cars  (for  I  know  how 
to  drive  a  motor),  so  that  I  may  be  enabled, 
in  my  spare  time,  to  visit  the  monuments  and 
picture-galleries  and  to  perfect  myself  in  my 
art. 

"  Pray  accept,  etc., 

"  Louis  S , 

''at  the  Cafe  du  Capitole,  Toulouse." 

173 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 
Here  is  a  letter  of  another  description  : 

"  To  Her  Majesty  Queen  Helena. 

"  Madam, 

"  You  are  the  mother  of  two  pretty 
babies  :  for  this  reason,  I  have  the  honour  of 
sending  you  herewith  two  boxes  of  lacteal  fari- 
naceous food,  of  my  own  invention,  for  infants  of 
tender  years.  It  is  a  wonderful  strengthening 
and  tonic  diet,  and  I  feel  that  I  am  doing  Your 
Majesty  a  service  in  sending  you  these  samples. 
You  are  sure  to  order  more. 

"  In  the  hope  of  receiving  these  orders,  I  am, 
"  Your  Majesty's  respectful  servant, 
"  Dr.  F.  J., 
"  Eue  de  la  Liberie,  NImes." 


These  few  specimens  of  correspondence  will 
suffice  to  give  an  idea  of  the  harmless  and  some- 
times comical  literature  that  found  its  way  every 
morning  into  the  royal  letter-bag.  I  must  not, 
however,  omit  to  mention,  among  the  humorous 
incidents  that  marked  the  sovereign's  journey, 
an  amusing  mistake  which  occurred  on  the  day  of 
their  arrival  in  Paris. 

It  was  about  half-past  six  in  the  evening.  Our 
royal  guests  had  that  moment  left  the  Foreign 
Office,  to  pay  their  first  official  visit  to  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Republic,  when  a  cab  stopped  outside 
the  strictly-guarded  gate.  An  old  gentleman, 
very  tall,  with  a  long  white  beard  and  very  simply 
174 


THE   KING   AND   QUEEN  OF   ITALY 

dressed,  alighted  and  was  about  to  walk  in  with  a 
confident  step. 

Three  policemen  rushed  to  prevent  him  : 

"  Stop  !  "  they  cried.  "  No  one  is  allowed  in 
here." 

"Oh,"  said  the  stranger,  "  but  I  want  to  see 
the  King  of  Italy  !  " 

"  And  who  may  you  be  ?  " 

"  The  King  of  the  Belgians." 

They  refused  to  believe  him.  When  he  per- 
sisted, however,  they  went  in  search  of  an  official, 
who  at  once  came  and  proffered  the  most  abject 
apologies.     Picture  the  faces  of  the  policemen  ! 

As  I  have  said,  the  King  and  Queen  of  Italy 
stayed  only  three  days  in  Paris. 

"  We  will  come  back  again,"  the  Queen  pro- 
mised, when  she  stepped  into  the  train,  radiant  at 
the  reception  which  had  been  given  her. 

They  have  not  returned  so  far. 


175 


CHAPTER  VI 

GEORGE    I.    KING    OF    THE    HELLENES 
1 

In  one  of  the  drawers  of  my  desk  lies  a  bundle 
of  letters  which  I  preserve  carefully,  adding  to 
it,  from  time  to  time,  as  each  fresh  letter  arrives. 
They  are  written  in  a  neat  and  dainty  hand, 
almost  like  a  woman's;  the  paper  is  of  very 
ordinary  quality  and  bears  no  crown  nor  mono- 
gram ;  and  the  emblem  stamped  on  the  red  wax 
with  which  the  envelopes  are  sealed  looks  as 
though  it  had  been  selected  on  purpose  to  baffle 
indiscreet  curiosity  :  it  represents  a  head  of 
Minerva  wearing  her  helmet. 

And  yet  this  correspondence  is  very  interesting ; 
and  I  believe  that  an  historian  would  set  great 
store  by  it,  not  only  because  it  would  supply 
him  with  valuable  particulars  concerning  certain 
events  of  our  own  time,  but  also  because  it 
reveals  the  exquisite  feeling  of  one  of  the  most 
attractive  of  sovereigns,  the  youthfulness  of  his 
mind,  and  the  reasons  why  a  royal  crown  may 
sometimes  seem  heavy  even  under  the  radiant 
skies  of  Greece. 

It  is  nearly  twenty  years  since  I  first  met  the 
176 


GEORGE  I.  KING  OF  THE  HELLENES 

writer  of  those  letters,  the  King  of  the  Hellenes ; 
and,  since  then,  I  have  watched  over  his  safety 
on  the  occasion  of  most  of  his  visits  to 
France.  This  long  acquaintance  enabled  me  to 
win  his  gracious  kindness,  while  he  has  my  affec- 
tionate devotion.  I  often  take  the  liberty  of 
writing  to  him,  when  he  is  in  his  own  dominions ; 
he  never  fails  to  reply  with  regularity;  and 
our  correspondence  forms,  as  it  were,  a  sequel  to 
our  familiar  talks,  full  of  good-humour  and 
charm,  begun  at  Aix-les-Bains,  in  Paris,  or  in  the 
train. 

It  would  be  making  a  childish  remark  to  say 
that  King  George  loves  France  :  the  frequency 
of  his  visits  makes  the  fact  too  obvious.  He 
does  more  than  evince  a  warm  admiration 
for  our  country :  this  Danish  prince,  who 
has  worn  the  Greek  crown  for  over  eight- 
and-forty  years,  is,  as  was  his  late  brother- 
in-law.  King  Edward  VII.,  the  most  Parisian  of 
our  foreign  guests.  His  Parisianism  shows  itself 
not  only  in  the  elegant  ease  with  which  he 
speaks  our  language  :  it  is  seen  in  his  turn  of 
mind,  which  is  essentially  that  of  the  man-about- 
town,  and  in  his  figure,  which  is  slender  and 
strong,  tall  and  graceful,  like  that  of  one  of  our 
cavalry-officers.  The  quick  shrewdness  that 
lurks  behind  his  fair,  military  moustache  is  also 
peculiarly  French ;  and  the  touch  of  fun  which 
is  emphasized  by  a  constant  twitching  of  the 
eyes  and  lips,  and  which  finds  an  outlet  in 
felicitous  phrases  and  unexpected  sallies,  is  just 
N  177 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

of  the  sort  that  makes  people  say  of  us  that  we 
are  the  most  satirical  people  on  the  face  of  the 
earth. 

King  George's  "  fun,"  at  any  rate,  is  never 
cruel;  and,  if  his  chaff  sometimes  becomes  a 
little  caustic,  at  least  it  is  always,  if  I  may  say  so, 
to  the  point. 

For  instance,  at  the  commencement  of  his 
reign,  when  he  found  himself  grappling  with  the 
first  internal  difficulties,  one  of  the  leaders  of  the 
parliamentary  opposition,  which  was  very  anxious 
for  the  fall  of  the  ministry  so  that  it  might  itself 
take  office,  came  to  him  and  said,  with  false  and 
deceitful  melancholy  : 

*'  Ah,  Sir,  if  you  only  had  a  minister  !  " 

*'  A  minister  ?  "  replied  the  King,  with  feigned 
surprise.     "  Why,  I  have  seven  at  least  !  " 

The  King  was  brought  up  in  the  admirable 
school  of  simplicity,  rectitude  and  kindness  of 
his  father.  King  Christian,  and  familiarized, 
from  his  early  youth,  with  all  the  tortuous  paths 
of  the  political  maze.  When  the  fall  of  King 
Otho  placed  him,  by  the  greatest  of  accidents, 
on  the  throne  of  Greece,  he  brought  with  him 
not  only  the  influence  of  his  numberless  illustrious 
alliances  and  the  fruits  of  a  timely  experience 
gained  in  that  marvellous  observation-post  which 
the  court  of  Denmark  supplies  :  he  also  brought 
the  qualities  of  his  frigid  and  well-balanced 
northern  temperament  to  that  nation  which  does 
not  require  the  stimulant  of  its  Patras  wine  to 
become  hot-headed. 
178 


GEORGE   I.   KING   OF   THE   HELLENES 

And  what  difficult  times  the  King  has  passed 
through  ! 

The  King  of  Saxony,  visiting  Corfu  one  day, 
said  to  him,  the  next  morning  : 

"  Upon  my  word,  it  must  be  charming  to  be 
king  of  this  paradise  !  " 

"  You  must  never  repeat  that  wish,"  repHed 
King  George,  without  hesitation.  "  I  have  been 
its  king  for  thirty  years ;  and  I  speak  as  one 
who  knows  !  " 

Events  that  have  followed  since  have  amply 
justified  the  bitterness  of  this  outburst,  which  I 
find  renewed  in  the  King's  letters.  And  yet, 
grave  though  the  situation  has  been  of  recent 
years,  I  do  not  believe  that  the  Greek  crown  is 
in  danger.  The  Greeks,  without  distinction  of 
party,  recognize  the  great  services  their  ruler  has 
rendered  to  the  national  cause,  which  he  has 
guarded  for  the  past  ten  years  in  the  European 
chancelleries  with  indefatigable  zeal  and  eloquence. 

"  I  never  met  a  more  persuasive  nor  an  abler 
diplomatist,"  said  M.  Clemenceau,  last  year,  after 
a  visit  which  he  had  received  from  George  I. 

His  ability  has  not  only  consisted  in  guarding 

his  country   against  the   ambitious  projects   of 

Turkey  by  placing  her  under  the  protection  of 

the  Powers  interested  in  preserving  the  status  quo 

in  the  east;  it  has  been  proved  by  the  ease  with 

which  he  effects  his  ends  amid  the  party  quarrels 

that  envenom  political  life  in  Greece.     Guided 

by  his  native  common-sense  and  a  remarkable 

knowledge  of  mankind,  he  has  made  it  his  study, 
N2  179 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

in  governing,  to  let  people  do  and  say  what  they 
please,  at  least  to  an  extent  that  enables  him 
never  to  find  himself  in  open  opposition  to  the 
love  of  independence  and  the  easily-offended  self- 
respect  of  his  subjects ;  and  he  has  realized  that 
what  was  required  was  an  uncommon  readiness 
to  give  way,  rather  than  inflexible  principles. 

For  the  rest,  it  must  be  admitted  that,  although 
the  Greek  nation  is  sometimes  tiresome  and 
endowed  with  faults  and  weaknesses  which  are 
purely  racial  and  temperamental,  on  the  other 
hand  it  is  generous  and  impulsive  to  a  degree ; 
and  its  touchy  pride  is  only  the  effect  of  an 
ardent  patriotism  which  is  sometimes  manifested 
in  the  most  amusing  ways. 

For  instance,  when  Greece,  not  long  ago, 
revived  an  ancient  and  picturesque  tradition 
and  decided  to  restore  the  Olympic  Games  and 
when  it  became  evident  that  these  would  draw 
large  numbers  of  foreigners  to  Athens,  the  pick- 
pockets held  a  meeting  and  pledged  themselves, 
one  and  all,  to  suspend  hostilities  as  long  as  the 
games  lasted,  in  order  to  protect  the  reputation 
of  the  country.  They  even  took  care  to  inform 
the  public  of  the  resolution  which  they  had 
passed;  and  they  did  more:  they  kept  their 
word,  with  this  unprecedented  result,  that  the 
police  had  a  holiday,  thanks  to  the  strike  of  the 
thieves  ! 

A  year  or  two  ago,  Mme.  Jacquemaire,  a 
daughter  of  M.  Clemenceau,  then  prime  minister 
of  France,  made  a  journey  to  Greece.  Returning 
180 


GEORGE   I.    KING   OF  THE   HELLENES 

by  rail  from  Athens  to  the  Piraeus,  where  she  was 
to  take  ship  for  Trieste,  she  missed  her  travelHng- 
bag,  containing  her  jewels.  This  valuable  piece 
of  luggage  had  evidently  been  stolen;  and  she 
lost  no  time  in  lodging  a  complaint  with  the 
harbour-police,  although  she  was  convinced  of 
the  uselessncss  of  the  step.  The  quest  instituted 
was,  in  fact,  vain.  But,  meanwhile,  the  press  had 
seized  upon  the  incident  and  stirred  up  public 
opinion,  which  was  at  that  time  persuaded  that 
M.  Clemenceau,  whose  Philhellenic  leanings  are 
notorious,  had  promised  the  Greek  government 
his  support  in  its  efforts  to  obtain  the  annexation 
of  Crete.  The  daughter  of  the  man  upon  whom 
the  Greeks  based  such  hopes  as  these  must  not, 
people  said,  be  allowed  to  take  an  unfavour- 
able impression  of  Greek  hospitality  away  with 
her.  The  newspapers  published  strongly- worded 
articles,  entreating  the  unknown  thief,  if  he  was 
a  Greek,  to  give  up  the  profits  of  his  larceny  and 
to  perform  a  noble  and  unselfish  act;  placards 
posted  on  the  walls  of  Athens  and  the  Piraeus 
made  vehement  appeals  to  his  patriotism. 
Twenty-four  hours  later,  the  police  received  the 
bag  and  its  contents  untouched;  and  they  were 
restored  to  Mme.  Jacquemaire  on  her  arrival  at 
Trieste. 


The  pilot's  trade  is  a  hard  one  when  you  have 

to    steer    through    continual    rocks,    to    keep    a 

constant  eve  upon  a  turbulent  crew,  and  to  look 
^  181 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

out  for  the  "  squalls  "  which  are  perpetually 
beating  from  the  always  stormy  horizon  in 
the  east.  It  is  easily  understood  that  King 
George  should  feel  a  longing,  when  events  permit, 
to  go  to  other  climes  in  search  of  a  short  diversion 
from  his  absorbing  responsibilities. 

"  You  see,"  King  Leopold  of  the  Belgians  said 
to  me,  one  day,  "  our  real  rest  lies  in  forgetting 
who  we  are." 

And  yet  it  cannot  be  said  the  distractions  and 
the  rest  which  King  George  knew  that  he  would 
find  among  us  were  the  only  object  of  the  journeys 
across  Europe  which  he  made  annually  until 
the  year  before  last.  He  always  carried  a  diplo- 
matist's dispatch-box  among  his  luggage;  he  is 
one  of  those  whose  believe  that  a  sovereign  can 
travel  for  his  country  while  travelling  for  pleasure : 

"  I  am  my  own  ambassador,"  he  often  said  to 
me. 

The  King  used  to  come  to  us  generally  at  the 
beginning  of  the  autumn,  on  his  way  to  and  from 
Copenhagen,  where  he  never  omitted  to  visit  his 
father,  King  Christian,  and  his  sisters.  Queen 
Alexandra  and  the  Empress  Marie  Feodorovna. 
He  delighted  in  this  annual  gathering,  which 
collected  round  the  venerable  grandsire,  under  the 
tall  trees  of  Fredensborg,  the  largest  and  most 
illustrious  family  that  the  world  contains,  a 
family  over  which  the  old  King's  ascendancy  and 
authority  remained  so  great  that  his  children, 
were  they  emperors  or  kings,  dared  not  go  into 
Copenhagen  without  first  asking  his  leave. 
182 


GEORGE   I.    KING   OF   THE   HELLENES 

"  When  I  am  down  there,  I  feel  as  if  I  were 
still  a  little  boy,"  King  George  used  to  say, 
laughing. 

In  France,  he  was  a  young  man.  He  divided 
his  stay  between  Aix-les-Bains  and  Paris;  and 
in  Paris,  as  at  Aix,  he  had  but  one  thought  in  his 
head  :  to  avoid  all  official  pomp  and  ceremony. 
He  would  have  been  greatly  distressed  if  he  had 
been  treated  too  obviously  as  a  sovereign;  and, 
when  he  accepted  the  inevitable  official  dinner  to 
which  the  President  of  the  Republic  always 
invited  him,  he  positively  refused  the  royal 
salute.  When  at  Aix,  he  used  to  yield  to  the 
necessity  of  attending  the  festivities  which  the 
authorities  of  that  charming  watering-place, 
where  he  was  very  popular,  arranged  in  his 
honour;  but  only  because  he  did  not  wish  to 
wound  any  one's  feelings,  however  slightly.  And, 
when  invited  to  go  to  some  display  of  fireworks  : 

"  Come  !  "  he  would  sigh.  "  Another  party  in 
my  honour  !  " 

Other  business  detained  me;  and  I  had  not  the 
privilege  of  being  attached  to  his  person  during 
his  first  stay  at  Aix.  The  French  government 
sent  two  commissaries  from  Lyons  to  watch 
over  his  safety;  and  these  worthy  functionaries, 
who  had  never  been  charged  with  a  mission  of 
this  kind  before,  lived  in  a  continual  state  of 
alarm.  To  them,  guarding  a  king  meant  never 
to  lose  sight  of  him,  to  follow  him  step  by  step 
like  a  prisoner,  to  spy  upon  his  movements  as 
though  he  were  a  felon.     They  ended  by  driving 

183 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

our  guest  mad  :  no  sooner  had  he  left  his  bed- 
room than  two  shadows  fastened  on  his  heels 
and  never  quitted  him ;  if  he  went  to  a  restaurant, 
to  the  casino,  to  the  theatre,  two  stern,  motionless 
faces  appeared  in  front  of  him,  four  suspicious 
eyes  peered  into  his  least  action.  It  was  of  no 
avail  for  him  to  try  to  throw  the  myrmidons  off 
the  scent,  to  look  for  back-doors  by  which  to 
escape  them :  there  was  no  avoiding  them ; 
they  were  always  there.  He  made  a  discreet 
complaint  and  I  was  asked  to  replace  them. 

"  You  are  very  welcome,"  he  said,  when  I 
arrived.  "  Your  colleagues  from  Lyons  made  such 
an  impression  on  me  that  I  ended  by  taking 
myself  for  an  assassin  !  " 

To  my  mind,  the  mission  of  guarding  this 
particularly  unaffected  and  affable  king  was 
neither  a  very  absorbing  nor  a  very  thankless 
task.  At  Aix,  where  he  walked  about  from 
morning  to  night  like  any  ordinary  private  per- 
son, everybody  knew  him.  There  was  never  the 
least  need  for  me  to  consult  the  reports  of  my 
inspectors;  the  saunterers,  the  shopkeepers,  the 
peasants  made  it  their  business  to  keep  me 
informed : 

"  Monsieur  le  Roi,"  they  would  say,  "  has 
just  passed  this  way;  he  went  down  that 
turning." 

Then  I  would  see  a  famiUar  form  twenty  yards 
ahead,  stick  in  hand,  Homburg  hat  on  one  ear, 
the  slim,  brisk  figure  clad  in  a  light-grey  suit, 
strolling  down  the  street,  or  looking  into  a  shop- 
184 


GEORGE   I.    KING   OF  THE   HELLENES 

window,  or  stopping  in  the  midst  of  a  group  of 
workmen.     It  was  "  Monsieur  le  Roi." 

"  Monsieur  le  Roi  "  had  even  become  "  Mon- 
sieur Georges  "  to  the  pretty  laundresses  whom 
he  greeted  with  a  pleasant  "Good-morning"  when 
he  passed  them  at  their  wash-tubs  on  his  way 
to  the  bathing  establishment.  For  he  carefully 
followed  the  cure  of  baths  and  douches  which 
his  trusty  physician,  Dr.  Guillard,  prescribed  for 
his  arthritis.  He  left  the  hotel  early  every 
morning  and  walked  to  the  baths,  taking  a  road 
that  leads  through  one  of  the  oldest  parts  oi  Aix. 
The  inhabitants  of  that  picturesque  corner  came 
to  know  him  so  well  by  sight  that  they  ended  by 
treating  him  as  a  friendly  neighbour.  Whenever 
he  entered  the  Rue  du  Puits-d'Enfer,  the  street- 
boys  would  stop  playing  and  receive  him  with 
merry  cheers,  to  which  he  replied  by  flinging 
handfuls  of  coppers  to  them.  The  news  of  his 
approach  flew  from  door  to  door  till  it  reached 
the  laundry.  .  .  Forthwith,  the  girls  stopped  the 
rhythmic  beat  of  their  "  dollies  " ;  the  songs 
ceased  on  their  lips;  they  quickly  wiped  the 
lather  from  their  hands  on  a  corner  of  their 
skirts  or  aprons  and  came  out  of  doors,  while 
their  fresh  young  voices  gave  him  the  familiar 
greeting  : 

"  Good-morning,  M.  Georges  !  Three  cheers 
for  M.  Georges  !  " 

They   chatted   for   a   bit;     the   King   amused 

himself  by   asking   questions,   joking,   replying; 

then,  touching  the  brim  of  his  felt  hat,  he  went 

185 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

his  way,  with  the  bright  voices  calhng  after  him, 
prettily  : 

''''  Au  revoir,  M.  Georges  !  .  .  .  Till  to-morrow  !  " 

He  enjoyed  this  morning  call  before  getting 
into  the  "  deep  bath  "  reserved  for  him;  and  he 
himself  was  popular  in  and  around  the  laundr}^ 
in  the  Rue  du  Puits-d'Enfer,  not  only  because  of 
his  good-nature  and  good-humour,  but  because 
the  girls  had  more  than  once  experienced  the 
benefits  of  his  unostentatious  generosity. 

His  days  at  Aix,  as  in  Paris,  were  regulated 
with  mathematical  precision :  George  I.  is  a 
living  chronometer.  After  making  his  daily 
pilgrimage  to  the  baths,  he  returned  to  the  hotel, 
read  his  telegrams,  dipped  into  the  French  and 
English  newspapers  and  worked  with  his  master 
of  the  household,  Count  Cernovitz,  or  with  his 
equerry.  General  de  Reineck.  or  else  with  M. 
Delyanni,  the  deeply-regretted  Greek  minister  to 
Paris,  whom  he  honoured  with  a  great  affection 
and  who  always  joined  his  royal  master  at 
Aix-les-Bains. 

From  eleven  to  twelve  in  the  morning,  he 
generally  gave  audiences,  either  to  the  authorities 
of  Aix,  with  whom  he  maintained  cordial  rela- 
tions, oi  to  strangers  of  note  who  were  presented 
to  him  during  his  stay.  Wlien  he  kept  a  few 
people  to  lunch — which  often  happened — they 
had  to  resign  themselves  to  leaving  their  appetite 
unsatisfied.  The  King  ate  very  little  in  the  day- 
time and    not  only  ordered  a  desperately  frugal 

menu,  but  himself  touched  nothing  except  the 
186 


GEORGE   I.    KING   OF   THE   HELLENES 

hors-d'oeuvre.  His  visitors  naturally  thought 
themselves  obliged,  out  of  deference,  to  imitate 
his  example,  the  more  so  as,  otherwise,  they  ran 
the  risk  of  having  their  mouths  full  at  the 
moment  when  they  had  to  reply  to  the  King's 
frequent  questions.  His  regular  guests,  there- 
fore, the  prefect  and  the  mayor,  knowing  by 
experience  what  was  in  store  for  him,  had 
adopted  a  system  which  was  both  practical  and 
ingenious  :  whenever  they  were  invited  to  the 
royal  table,  they  lunched  before  they  came. 

In  the  evening,  on  the  other  hand,  His  Majesty 
made  a  hearty  meal.  He  always  dined  in  the 
public  room  of  the  restaurant  of  the  Casino,  with 
his  medical  adviser  and  some  friends ;  and,  when 
Dr.  Guillard  cried  out  against  the  excessive 
number  of  courses  which  the  royal  host  was  fond 
of  ordering  : 

"  Don't  be  angry  with  me,"  he  replied.  "  I 
don't  order  them  for  myself,  but  for  the  good  of 
the  house  :  if  the  restaurant  didn't  make  a  profit 
out  of  me,  where  would  it  be  ?  " 

After  dinner,  he  took  us  with  him  either  to  the 
gaming-rooms  or  to  the  theatre.  Although  the 
King  did  not  play  himself,  it  amused  him  to  stroll 
round  the  tables,  to  watch  the  expression  of  the 
gamblers  and  to  observe  the  numberless  typical 
incidents  that  always  occur  among  such  a  cosmo- 
politan crowd  as  that  consisting  of  the  frequenters 
of  our  watering-places.  He  also  loved  to  hear 
the  gossip  of  the  place,  to  know  all  about  the 
petty    intrigues,    the    little    domestic    tragedies 

187 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

Lastly,  he  liked  making  the  acquaintance  of  any 
well-known  actor  or  actress  who  happened  to  be 
passing  through  Aix. 

But  our  guest  did  more  than  show  his  liking 
for  the  shining  lights  of  the  profession  :  he 
numbered  friends  also  among  the  humbler  per- 
formers at  the  Grand  Theatre.  Sabadon,  the 
good,  jolly,  indescribable  Sabadon,  who  for 
twenty  years  had  sung  first  "  heavy  bass  "  at  the 
theatre  of  the  town,  was  one  of  them.  This  is 
how  I  discovered  the  fact  :  when  the  King  came 
to  Aix,  some  years  ago,  Sabadon  shouldered  his 
way  to  the  front  row  of  the  spectators  who  were 
waiting  outside  the  station  to  see  His  Majesty 
arrive.  The  enthusiastic  crowd  kept  on  shouting, 
"  Long  live  King  George  !  "  and  Sabadon,  with 
his  powerful  voice — his  "  heavy  bass  "  voice — 
which  had  filled  all  the  "  grand  theatres  "  in  the 
provinces,  Sabadon,  with  his  southern  accent 
(he  was  from  Toulouse),  shouted  louder  than  all 
the  rest  and,  so  that  he  might  shout  more  freely, 
had  taken  a  step  forward. 

But  a  policeman  was  watching;  and  fearing 
lest  the  royal  procession  should  be  disturbed  by 
this  intrusive  person,  he  walked  up  to  him  and, 
in  a  bullying  tone,  said  : 

"  Get  back ;  and  look  sharp  about  it.  You 
don't  imagine  that  you're  going  to  stand  in  the 
King's  road,  do  you  ?  " 

Sabadon,  who  is  a  hot-blooded  fellow,  like  all 

the  men  from  his  part  of  the  country,  was  about 

to  reply  with  one  of  those  forcible  and  pungent 
188 


GEORGE  I.  KING  OF  THE  HELLENES 

outbursts  which  are  the  very  salt  of  the  Gascon 
speech  : 

"  You  low,  rascally  ..."  he  began. 

But  he  had  no  time  to  finish.  The  King 
appeared  at  the  entrance  to  the  railway-station, 
came  across  and,  as  he  passed,  said  : 

"  Hullo,  M.  Sabadon  !  How  do  you  do,  M. 
Sabadon  ?     Are  they  '  biting '  this  year  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Sir,  Your  Majesty.  And  your  family  ? 
Keeping  well,  I  hope  ?     That's  right  !  " 

Then,  when  the  King  had  disappeared,  Sabadon 
turned  to  the  astounded  policeman  : 

"  What  do  you  say  to  that,  my  son  ?  Flabber- 
gasts you,  eh  ?  " 

How  did  the  King  come  to  know  the  singer  ? 
And  why  had  he  asked  with  so  much  interest  if 
"  they  were '  biting '  this  year  ?  "  One  of  the  local 
papers  reported  the  incident  and  supplied  the 
explanation,  which  I  did  not  trouble  to  verify, 
but  which  is  so  amusing  and,  at  the  same  time, 
so  probable  that  I  give  it  for  what  it  is  worth. 

The  King,  it  seems,  who  often  walked  to  the 
Lac  du  Bourget,  a  few  miles  from  Aix,  thought 
that  he  would  try  his  hand  at  fishing,  one  after- 
noon. Taking  the  necessary  tackle  with  him, 
he  sat  down  on  the  shore  of  the  lake  and  cast  his 
line.  Ten  minutes,  twenty  minutes  passed.  Not 
a  bite.  The  King  felt  the  more  annoyed  as, 
thirty  yards  from  where  he  was,  a  man — a 
stranger  like  himself — was  pulling  up  his  line  at 
every  moment,  with  a  trout  or  a  bream  wriggling 

at  the  end  of  it. 

189 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

The  disheartened  King  ended  by  deciding  to  go 
to  the  angler  and  ask  him  how  he  managed  to 
catch  so  many  fish  !  But,  before  he  was  able  to 
say  a  word,  the  man  stood  up,  bowed  with  great 
ceremony  and,  in  a  stentorian  voice,  said  : 

"  Sir,  Your  Majesty  ..." 

"  Wiat  !  Do  you  know  me  ?  "  asked  the 
King. 

"  Sir,  Your  Majesty,  let  me  introduce  myself  : 
Sabadon,  second  heavy  bass  at  the  Theatre  du 
Capitole  of  Toulouse,  at  this  moment  first  chorus- 
leader  at  the  Theatre  Municipal  of  Aix-les-Bains. 
...  I  have  seen  you  in  the  stage-box." 

"  Ah  !  "  said  the  King,  taken  aback.  "  But 
please  explain  to  me  why  you  get  so  many  fish, 
whereas  ..." 

*'  Habit,  Sir,  Your  Majesty,  a  trick  of  the  hand 
and  personal  fascination ;  it  needs  an  education  : 
I  got  mine  at  Pinsaquel,  near  Toulouse,  at  the 
junction  of  the  Ariege  and  the  Gavonne.  .  .  .  Ah, 
Pinsaquel  !  " 

And  Sabadon's  voice  was  filled  with  all  the 
pangs  of  home-sickness  : 

"  Have  you  never  been  to  Pinsaquel  ?  You 
ought  to  go  :   it's  the  angler's  paradise." 

"  Certainly,  I  will  go  there  one  day.  But, 
meanwhile,  I  shall  be  returning  with  an  empty 
basket." 

"  Never,  not  if  I  know  it !  Take  my  place,  Sir, 
Your  Majesty,  each  time  I  say  '  Hop  !  '  pull  up 
your  line  .  .  .  and  tell  me  what  you  think  of  it !  " 

The  King,  mightily  amused  by  the  adven- 
190 


GEORGE  I.  KING  OF  THE  HELLENES 

ture,  followed  his  instructions.  In  three  minutes 
Sabadon's  tremendous  voice  gave  the  signal  : 

"  Hop  !  " 

It  was  a  trout.  And  the  fishing  proceeded,  in 
an  almost  miraculous  manner. 

As  they  walked  back  to  the  town  together,  an 
hour  later,  Sabadon  took  the  opportunity  to 
expound  to  the  King  the  cause  of  his  grudge 
against  Meyerbeer,  the  composer  : 

"  You  must  understand.  Sir,  Your  Majesty, 
that,  at  the  Toulouse  theatre,  it  was  I  who  used 
to  play  the  night-watchman  in  the  Huguenots. 
I  had  to  cross  the  stage  with  a  lantern;  and, 
as  I  am  very  popular  at  Toulouse,  I  used  to 
receive  a  wonderful  ovation  :  '  Bravo,  Sabadon  ! 
Hurrah  for  Sabadon  !  '  Just  as  when  you  came 
to  Aix,  Sir,  Your  Majesty.  .  .  .  Well,  in  spite  of 
that,  the  manager  absolutely  refused  to  let  me 
take  a  call,  because  the  music  didn't  lend  itself 
to  it  I  I  ask  you.  Sir,  Your  Majesty,  if  that  lout 
of  a  Meyerbeer  couldn't  have  let  me  cross  the 
stage  a  second  time  !  " 


King  George,  who,  like  most  reigning  sove- 
reigns, is  an  indefatigable  walker,  used  to  start 
out  every  day  in  the  late  afternoon  and  come 
back  just  before  dinner-time.  He  nearly  always 
took  a  member  of  his  suite  with  him ;  one  of  my 
inspectors  would  follow  him.  All  the  peasants 
round  Aix  knew  the  King  by  sight  and  raised 

191 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

their  caps  as  he  passed.  He  is  very  young  in 
mind — in  this  respect,  he  has  remained  the  mid- 
shipman of  his  boyhood — and  he  sometimes 
amused  himself  by  playing  a  trick  on  the  com- 
panion of  his  walk.  For  instance,  as  soon  as  he 
saw  that  his  equerry,  after  covering  a  reasonable 
number  of  miles,  was  beginning,  if  I  may  so 
express  myself,  to  hang  out  signals  of  distress, 
the  King  suggested  that  they  should  turn  into  a 
roadside  public-house  for  a  drink  : 

"  They  keep  a  certain  small  wine  of  the  country 
here,"  he  said,  "  which  has  a  flavour  all  of 
its  own;  but  you  must  drink  it  down  at  a 
draught." 

The  other,  whether  he  were  thirsty  or  not, 
dared  not  refuse.  They  therefore  entered  the 
inn  and  the  King  had  a  tumbler  filled  with  the 
famous  nectar  and  handed  it  to  his  equerry, 
taking  good  care  not  to  drink  any  himself.  It 
was,  in  point  of  fact,  a  piquette,  or  sour  wine,  with 
a  taste  "  all  of  its  own  "  and  resembling  nothing 
so  much  as  vinegar;  and  the  King's  guest,  when 
he  had  emptied  his  glass,  could  not  help  pulling 
a  frightful  face.  He  dared  not,  however,  be  so 
disrespectful  as  to  complain ;  and,  when  the  King, 
who  had  enjoyed  the  scene  enormously,  asked, 
in  a  very  serious  voice  : 

"  Delicious,  isn't  it  ?  " 

"  Oh,  delicious  !  "  the  equerry  replied,  with  an 
air  of  conviction. 

You  must  not,  however,  think  that  the  King's 
practical  jokes  were  always  inhuman.  Most  often, 
192 


GEORGE   I.   KING   OF   THE   HELLENES 

they  bore  witness,  under  a  superficial  appearance 
of  mischief,  to  his  discriminating  kindness  of 
heart. 

I  remember,  in  this  connection,  once  going  to 
meet  him  at  the  frontier-station  of  Culoz,  through 
which  he  was  passing  on  liis  way  from  Geneva 
to  Aix.  The  members  of  his  suite  and  I  had  left 
him  alone,  for  a  few  moments,  while  we  went  to 
buy  some  books  and  newspapers  which  he  had 
asked  for.  As  he  was  walking  up  and  down  the 
platform,  he  saw  a  good  woman  at  the  door  of  a 
third-class  railway-carriage,  a  plump,  red-faced 
sort  of  peasant-woman,  who  was  making  vain 
efforts  to  open  the  door  and  fuming  with  anger 
and  impatience.  Suddenly  catching  sight  of  the 
King,  who  stood  looking  at  her  : 

"  Hi,  there,  Mr.  Porter  !  "  she  cried.  "  Come 
and  help  me,  can't  you  ?  " 

The  King  ran  up,  opened  the  carriage-door  and 
received  the  fat  person  in  his  arms.  Next,  she 
said  : 

"  Fetch  me  out  my  basket  of  vegetables  and 
my  bundle." 

The  King  obediently  executed  her  commands. 
At  that  moment  we  appeared  upon  the  platform 
.  .  .  and,  to  our  amazement,  saw  King  George 
carrying  the  basket  under  one  arm  and  the 
bundle  under  the  other.  He  made  a  sign  to  me 
not  to  move.  He  carried  the  luggage  to  the 
waiting-room,  took  a  ticket  for  the  fair  traveller, 
who  was  changing  her  train,  and  refused  to  accept 

payment  for  it,  in  spite  of  her  insistence.  .  .  . 
o  193 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

What  a  pleasant  recollection  she  must  have  of  the 
porters  at  Culoz  Station  ! 

Here  is  another  adventure,  which  happened  at 
Aix.  The  King  had  the  habit,  on  leaving  the 
Casino  in  the  evening,  to  go  back  with  me  in  the 
hotel  omnibus,  which  was  reserved  for  his  use  : 
he  found  this  easier  than  taking  a  cab.  One 
evening,  just  as  we  were  about  to  step  in,  a 
visitor  staying  at  the  hotel,  a  foreign  lady,  not 
knowing  that  tlie  omnibus  was  reserved  exclu- 
sively for  the  King,  went  in  before  us,  sat  down 
and  waited  for  the  'bus  to  start.  As  I  was  about 
to  ask  her  to  get  out  : 

"  Let  her  be,"  said  the  King.  "  She's  not  in 
our  way." 

We  got  inside,  in  our  turn ;  I  sat  down  opposite 
the  King;  the  omnibus  started;  the  lady  did 
not  move.  Suddenly,  the  King  broke  silence 
and  spoke  to  me;  I  replied,  using,  of  course, 
the  customary  forms  of  "  Sire "  and  "  Your 
Majesty." 

Thereupon  the  lady  looked  at  us  in  dismay, 
flung  herself  against  the  window,  tapped  at  it 
and  called  out  : 

"  What  have  I  done  ?  Heavens,  what  have  I 
done  ?  "  she  cried.  "  I  am  in  the  King's  omni- 
bus !     Stop  !     Stop  !  " 

And,  turning  to  the  King,  with  a  theatrical 
gesture  : 

"  Pardon,  Sire." 

The  King  was  seized  with  a  fit  of  laughter,  in 
the  midst  of  which  he  did  his  best  to  reassure  her  : 
194 


GEORGE   I.   KING   OF   THE   HELLENES 

"  I  entreat  you,  madam,  calm  yourself  !  You 
have  nothing  to  fear  :  a  king  is  not  an  epidemic 
disease  !  " 

The  good  lady  quieted  down;  but  we  reached 
the  hotel  without  being  able  to  extract  a  word 
from  her  paralyzed  throat. 

In    this    respect,    she    did    not    resemble    the 

majority  of  her  sisters  of  the  fair  sex,  before  whose 

imperious    and    charming    despotism    we    have 

bowed  since  the  days  of  our  father  Adam.     As 

a  matter  of  fact,  no  sovereign  that  I  know  of  ever 

aroused    more    affectionate    curiosity    in   female 

circles    than    King    George.     The     glamour    of 

his    rank    had    something    to    say  to   this,    no 

doubt;    but  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  the 

elegance    of    his    person,    the    affability    of    his 

manners,  and  the  conquering  air  of  his  moustache 

were  not  wholly  unconnected  with  it.     Whether 

leaving  his  hotel,  or  entering    the  restaurant  or 

one  of  the  rooms  of  the  Casino,  or  appearing  in 

the   paddock   at  the   races,    which   he   attended 

regularly,  he  was  at  once  the  cynosure  of  every 

pair  of  beaming  eyes  and  the  object  of  cunning 

manoeuvres    on   the  part   of    their   fair   owners, 

who  were  anxious  to  approach  him  and  to  find 

out  what  a  king  is  made  of  when  you  see  him  at 

close  quarters.     No  man  is  quite  insensible  to 

such   advances.      At  the   same   time,  George  I. 

was  too  clever  to  be  taken  in  :   he  was  amused  at 

the  homage  paid  him  and  accepted  it  in  his  usual 

spirit  of  bantering,  but  polite,  coyness. 

For  the  rest,  he  led  a  very  quiet,  very  methodi- 
0  2  195 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

cal  and  rather  monotonous  life,  both  at  Aix  and 
in  Paris;  for  to  the  character  of  this  sovereign, 
as  to  that  of  most  others,  there  is  a  "  middle- 
class  "  side  that  displays  itself  in  harmless 
eccentricities.  For  instance,  King  George,  when 
he  travels  abroad,  always  goes  to  the  same  hotel, 
occupies  the  same  rooms,  and  is  so  averse  to 
change  that  he  likes  every  piece  of  furniture  to 
be  in  exactly  the  same  place  where  he  last  left 
it.  I  shall  never  forget  my  astonishment  when, 
entering  the  King's  bedroom  a  few  moments  after 
his  arrival  at  the  Hotel  Bristol  in  Paris,  I  caught 
him  bodily  moving  a  heavy  Louis  XV.  chest  of 
drawers,  which  he  carried  across  the  room  with 
the  help  of  his  physician  : 

"  You  see,"  he  said,  "  it  used  to  stand  by  the 
fire-place  and  they  have  shifted  it  to  the  window, 
so  I  am  putting  it  back." 


I  have  spoken  of  my  duties  with  regard  to  this 
monarch  as  an  agreeable  sinecure.  But  I  was 
exaggerating.  Once,  when  I  was  with  him  at 
Aix,  I  had  a  terrible  alarm.  I  was  standing 
beside  him,  in  the  evening,  in  the  petits-chevaux 
room  at  the  Casino,  when  one  of  my  inspectors 
slipped  a  note  into  my  hand.  It  was  to  inform 
me  that  an  individual  of  Roumanian  nationality, 
a  rabid  Grecophobe,  had  arrived  at  Aix,  with,  it 
was  feared,  the  intention  of  killing  the  King. 
There  was  no  further  clue. 
196 


GEORGE  I.  KING  OF  THE  HELLENES 

I  was  in  a  very  unpleasant  predicament.  I 
did  not  like  to  tell  the  King,  for  fear  of  spoiling 
his  stay.  To  go  just  then  in  search  of  further 
details  would  have  been  worse  still  :  there  could 
be  no  question  of  leaving  the  King  alone.  How 
could  I  discover  the  man  ?  For  all  I  knew,  he 
was  quite  near;  and,  instinctively,  I  scrutinized 
carefully  all  the  people  who  crowded  round  us, 
kept  my  eyes  fixed  on  those  who  seemed  to  be 
staring  too  persistently  at  the  King  and  watched 
every  movement  of  the  players. 

At  daybreak  the  next  morning,  I  set  to  work 
and  started  enquiries.  I  had  no  difficulty  in 
discovering  my  man.  He  was  a  Roumanian 
student  and  had  put  up  at  a  cheap  hotel ;  he  was 
said  to  be  rather  excitable  in  his  manner,  if  not 
in  his  language.  I  could  not  arrest  him  as  long 
as  I  had  no  definite  charge  to  bring  against  him. 
I  resolved  to  have  him  closely  shadowed  by  the 
Aix  police ;  and  I  myself  arranged  never  to  stir 
a  foot  from  the  King's  side.  Things  went  on 
like  this  for  several  days  :  the  King  knew  nothing 
and  the  Roumanian  neither;  but  I  would  gladly 
have  bought  him  a  railway-ticket  to  get  rid  of  him. 

Presently,  however,  one  of  my  inspectors  came 
to  me,  wearing  a  terrified  look  : 

"  We've  lost  the  track  of  the  Roumanian  !  "  he 
declared. 

"  You  are  mad  !  "  I  cried. 

"  No,   would   that   I   were  !     He  has  left  his 

hotel  unnoticed  by  any  of  us ;  and  we  don't  know 

what  has  become  of  him." 

197 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

I  flew  into  a  rage  and  at  once  ordered  a  search 
to  be  made  for  him.  It  was  labour  lost :  there 
was  not  a  trace  of  him  to  be  found. 

For  once,  I  was  seriously  uneasy.  I  resolved 
to  tell  the  whole  story  to  the  King,  so  that  he 
might  allow  himself  to  be  quietly  guarded.  But 
he  merely  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  laughed  : 

"  You  see,  Paoli,"  he  said,  "  I  am  a  fatalist. 

If  my  hour  has  come,  neither  you  nor  I  can  avoid 

it;    and  I  am  certainly  not  going  to  let  a  trifle 

of  this  kind  spoil  my  holiday.     Besides,  it  is  not 

the  first  time  that  I  have  seen  danger  close  at 

hand ;    and  I  assure  you  that  I  am  not  afraid. 

Look  here,  a  few  years  ago,  I  was  returning  one 

day  with  my  daughter  to  my  castle  of  Tatoi,  near 

Athens.     We   were   driving   without   an   escort. 

Suddenly,  happening  to  turn  my  head,  I  saw  a 

rifle-barrel    pointed    at  us    from    the  roadside, 

gleaming  between  the  leaves  of  the  bushes.     I 

leaped  up  and  instantly  flung  myself  in  front  of 

my   daughter.     The   rifle   followed   me.     I   said 

to  myself,  '  It's  all  over ;   I'm  a  dead  man.'     And 

what  do  you  think  I  did  ?     I  have  never  been 

able  to  explain  why,  but  I  began  to  count  aloud — 

'  One,   two,   three  ' — it  seemed   an  age ;    and   I 

was  just  going  to  say,  'Four,'  when  the  shot  was 

fired.     I  closed   my  eyes.     The  bullet  whistled 

past  my  ears.     The  startled  horses  ran  away,  we 

were  saved  and  I  thought  no  more  about  it.     So 

do  not  let  us  alarm  ourselves  before  the  event, 

my   dear   Paoli  ;     we    will    wait    and    see    what 

happens." 

198 


GEORGE   I.   KING   OF   THE   HELLENES 

I  admired  the  King's  fine  coolness,  of  course ; 
but  I  was  none  the  easier  in  my  mind,  for  all  that. 
.  .  .  Still,  the  King  was  right,  this  time,  and  I  was 
wrong  :  we  never  heard  anything  more  about  the 
mysterious  Roumanian. 


George  I.  has  preserved  none  but  agreeable 
recollections  of  his  different  visits  to  Aix.  In 
evidence  of  this,  I  will  only  mention  the  regret 
which  he  expressed  to  me,  in  one  of  his  last 
letters,  that  the  Greek  crisis  prevented  him  from 
making  his  usual  trip  to  France  in  1909  : 

"  Here,  where  duty  keeps  me — nobody  knows 
for  how  long — I  often  think  of  my  friends  at 
Aix,  of  my  friends  in  France,  whom  I  should  so 
much  like  to  see  again ;  of  that  beautiful  country, 
of  our  walks  and  talks.  .  .  .  But  life  is  made  up  of 
little  sacrifices  :  they  do  not  count,  if  we  succeed 
in  attaining  the  object  which  we  pursue;  and 
mine  is  to  ensure  for  my  people  the  happiness 
which  they  deserve." 

The  King  has  depicted  his  very  self  in  those 
few  words  :   I  know  no  better  portrait  of  him. 


199 


CHAPTER   VII 

KING    EDWARD    VII 
1 

I  CANNOT  open  this  chapter  without  a  feeling 
of  the  saddest  emotion.  Little  did  I  think,  when 
I  was  preparing  to  write  it,  that  I  should  have  to 
speak  in  the  past  tense  of  the  sovereign  of  whom 
it  treats  ! 

King  Edward  was  still  at  Biarritz.  He  had 
made  only  a  short  stay,  of  twenty-four  hours,  in 
Paris  on  his  way  to  the  Basque  coast;  and  I  did 
not  have  time  to  call  and  pay  my  respects  to 
His  Majesty,  in  accordance  with  my  habit.  I 
therefore  ventured  to  write  and  tell  him  that  it 
was  my  intention  to  devote  a  few  pages  of  my 
Memoirs  to  him,  if  he  authorized  me  to  do  so. 
With  his  usual  kindness,  he  at  once  sent  a  reply 
to  say  that  he  would  be  pleased  to  read  what  I 
had  written,  when  he  returned  through  Paris, 
and  to  point  out  any  inaccuracies  that  might  have 
slipped  in  unawares,  even  as  he  had  read  my  book 
on  Queen  Victoria  and  corrected  it  with  his  own 
hand.  Alas  !  He  was  never  to  visit  Paris  again ; 
politics  summoned  him  hastily  back  to  London, 
where  death  awaited  him. 

The  void  which  he  leaves  behind  him  in  Europe 
200 


KING   EDWARD   VII 

and,  I  may  safely  say,  in  the  whole  world  is  so 
great  that  I  doubt  if  it  can  ever  be  filled  in  the 
French  hearts  which  he  had  conquered  by  the 
charm  of  his  easy  good-nature,  by  the  absolutely 
Latin  quickness  of  his  intellect,  and  by  the  con- 
stant and  faithful  friendship  which  he  had  shown 
us.  His  death  came  upon  France  almost  in  the 
light  of  a  family  loss;  and  it  was  felt  as  such 
especially  by  myself,  for  I  had  transferred  to  the 
son  the  respectful  attachment  which  I  had  always 
borne  to  the  mother. 

When  I  begin  to  consult  my  reminiscences  of 
the  regretted  sovereign,  one  memory,  a  very 
distant  one,  crops  up  at  the  sound  of  Edward 
VII. 's  name  as  though  it  dated  back  to  yesterday, 
instead  of  to  1877.  I  had  just  been  appointed 
special  commissary  at  Nice  and  had  entered 
upon  my  functions,  one  morning  in  April,  on  the 
station  platform,  by  watching  the  arrival  of  the 
express  from  Paris.  Suddenly  my  attention  was 
attracted  to  a  traveller,  followed  by  a  great, 
tall  footman,  who  was  trying  to  reach  the  exit 
in  the  midst  of  a  noisy,  hurrying,  cosmopolitan 
crowd. 

The  traveller  was  a  powerfully-built,  broad- 
shouldered  man,  with  an  expansive  face  tapering 
into  a  short  fair  beard.  His  features  were  open 
and  prepossessing.  His  gait  was  supple  and  his 
bearing  one  of  supreme  ease  under  the  faultless 
cut  of  his  navy-blue  serge  suit.  Everything 
about  him  pointed  to  a  love  of  sober  elegance  and 
subtle    refinement    in    dress :    his    skilfully-tied 

201 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

sailor's  knot;  his  rich  silk  handkerchief,  pro- 
truding slightly  from  the  pocket  of  his  jacket; 
the  gold-knobbed  malacca  under  his  arm  and  the 
fragrant  havana  between  his  lips ;  the  very  pale- 
grey  felt  hat,  which  he  wore  a  little  to  the  left 
side  of  his  head ;  his  yellow-suede  gloves  sewn  with 
black  stitching  on  the  backs.  But  what  struck 
me  most  of  all  was  the  clearness  of  the  blue-grey 
eyes,  which  were  very  prominent,  under  their 
heavy  lids. 

"  You  know  who  that  is,  of  course  ?  "  asked  the 
station-master. 

"  I  do  not,"  said  I. 

"  Take  a  good  look  at  him,  then.  You  will  see 
him  very  often  :  it  is  the  Prince  of  Wales." 

And,  as  I  was  going  to  step  forward  to  clear  a 
road  for  His  Royal  Highness  to  his  carriage  : 

"  Don't  do  that,"  said  the  station-master, 
"  don't  do  that.  Your  display  of  zeal  would 
only  annoy  him.  Besides,  he  knows  everybody 
at  Nice  and  everybody  adores  him." 

I  was  presented  to  the  prince  the  next  day. 
The  first  remark  he  made  to  me  was  : 

"  We  have  the  tomb  of  General  Paoli,  the 
celebrated  outlaw,  in  Westminster  Abbey,  among 
our  famous  dead.  He  fought  against  England 
long  before  Corsica  belonged  to  France.  Are  you 
a  relation  ?  " 

"  He  was  one  of  my  ancestors,  sir." 

"  As   you    see,    we   have   honoured   his   great 
memory.     I  am  very  glad  to  meet  one  of  his 
descendants." 
202 


KING  EDWARD   VII 

I  did  not  suspect,  at  that  time,  that  I  should 
one  day  become  "  the  official  guardian  of  the 
kings,"  to  use  the  expression  of  the  King  of  the 
Hellenes.  Until  then,  my  various  detective  duties 
had  been  limited  to  keeping  anarchists  and  other 
more  or  less  suspicious  persons  under  observation. 
Since  the  advent  of  the  Republic,  the  sovereigns  of 
Europe  had  forgotten  their  way  to  France;  the 
grand-dukes  had  not  yet  taken  to  visiting  us; 
princes  in  general  were  distrustful.  Our  patriotic 
self-esteem  was  all  the  more  indebted  to  the  heir 
to  the  British  crown  for  the  frequency  of  his 
visits.  He  had  been  our  friend  in  need;  and  we 
were  duly  grateful  to  him.  And  we  also  appre- 
ciated his  wonderful  tact,  thanks  to  which  he  was 
the  only  prince  who  could  allow  himself  to  lunch 
at  the  Jockey  Club  and  dine  at  the  filysee,  to  pay 
calls  in  the  Faubourg  Saint-Germain  and  receive 
the  visits  of  Gambetta,  without  wounding  sus- 
ceptibilities ever  ready  to  take  offence. 


The  fact  is  that  no  one   possessed  the  art  of 

differentiation  and  the  true  sense  of  proportion 

to  the  same  extent  as  the  Prince.      It    was    a 

keyboard  on  which  he  played  with  incomparable 

skill.      His    way    of    taking    off    his     hat,     of 

shaking     hands,    his   smile,    the    intonation    of 

his  voice,  his  acts,  his   words  :    all  these   were, 

if  I  may  so  express  myself,  accommodated  with 

infinite   delicacv   to   the   person   whom   he   was 

203 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

addressing,  to  the  surroundings  in  which  he  found 
himself,  to  the  exact  meaning  which  he  wished  a 
given  act  or  a  given  word  to  bear.  He  was  more 
than  the  right  man  in  the  right  place  :  he  was  the 
right  man  in  every  place.  A  fine  gentleman  in 
the  strictest  sense  of  the  word,  he  knew  how  to 
remain  a  prince  while  stooping  to  intimacy  and 
even  familiarity,  and  to  make  those  who  might 
have  been  tempted  to  forget  the  fact  remember 
it. 

I  have  an  evening  in  my  mind  when  he  was 
chatting  in  the  green-room  of  the  Comedie 
Fran9aise  with  Sara  Bernhardt  and  Frederic 
Febvre,  the  famous  comedian.  A  stranger 
walked  up  to  the  group  and,  without  being 
presented  to  the  prince,  asked  him  what  he 
thought  of  the  play.  The  Prince  of  Wales 
turned  round  quietly  and,  with  his  most  pleasant 
smile  ; 

"  I  don't  think  I  spoke  to  you,"  he  replied. 

The  stranger  turned  first  red  and  then  pale  and 
hastened  to  apologize. 

The  Prince  of  Wales  hated  affectation,  was 
always  natural  and  was  glad  to  come  into  touch 
with  any  one  who  could  teach  him  something 
new,  who  could  give  him  a  fresh  view  of  life, 
which  he  loved  with  an  eager  curiosity,  or 
of  society,  which  he  studied  incessantly  and 
from  which  he  derived  an  immense  amount  of 
amusement. 

Respecting  established  institutions  as  he  did, 
he  never  allowed  himself  to  comment  on  the 
204  ' 


KING   EDWARD   VII 

government  or  policy  of  a  country;  and  none 
knew  better  than  he  how  to  turn  the  conversa- 
tion the  moment  it  was  entering  on  dangerous 
ground. 

He  had  retained  a  lively  affection  for  our 
imperial  family  and  always  spoke  of  the  Em- 
peror Napoleon  III.  and  the  Prince  Imperial 
in  terms  of  emotion.  He  also  showed  the  most 
respectful  attachment  for  the  Empress  Eugenie  : 
each  time  that  he  went  to  the  Mediterranean 
when  she  was  staying  there,  or  if  he  knew  her  to 
be  in  Paris  while  he  was  there,  he  never  failed  to 
pay  her  one  or  more  long  visits.  The  majesty 
of  that  inconsolable  and  silent  grief  filled  him  with 
the  deepest  sympathy. 

Whether  or  not  he  had  a  more  marked  predi- 
lection for  the  Bonapartes,  this  did  not  prevent 
him  from  keeping  up  a  regular  intercourse  with 
the  Orleans  family  and  notably  with  the  Due 
d'Aumale  : 

"  You  see,  Paoli,"  he  said,  one  day,  "  the  Due 
d'Aumale  is  a  grandee  of  the  past  who  has  lingered 
on  into  our  own  age  :  he  represents  the  flower  of 
exquisite  French  politeness ;  and  his  learning  is  so 
extensive  and  his  recollection  of  things  so  accurate 
that,  every  time  I  talk  to  him,  I  feel  as  if  I  were 
having  a  lesson  in  French  history." 

But,  though  he  sometimes  liked  to  revive  the 
charms  of  the  past,  he  was  better  able  than  any- 
body to  appreciate  the  interest  of  the  present. 
He     neglected     no     opportunity     of     becoming 

acquainted  with   the  statesmen  and  orators  of 

205 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

the  Third  Republic.  He  held  Gambetta  in  high 
esteem  : 

"  The  first  time  that  I  saw  him,"  he  said  to  me, 
one  day,  "  he  struck  me  as  so  vulgar  in  his  manner 
and  so  careless  of  his  appearance  that  I  asked 
myself  if  this  was  really  the  man  who  had  dis- 
covered the  means  of  exercising  an  irresistible 
fascination  over  the  minds  of  crowds.  Then  we 
talked.  Gambetta  expounded  his  ideas  and  his 
plans ;  and  the  captivating  charm  of  his  eloquence 
made  me  forget  the  physical  repulsion  with  which 
he  inspired  me  :  I  was  '  carried  away  '  in  my  turn, 
like  the  others.  I  wanted  to  see  him  again;  I 
invited  him  to  come  to  England  for  Ascot. 
Events  prevented  him  from  doing  so  and  he  died 
the  year  after.  I  was  sorry.  He  was  a  great 
politician  and  a  wonderful  master  of  words." 

On  the  other  hand,  our  public  men,  whatever 
their  shade  of  opinion,  found  the  greatest  pleasure 
in  talking  to  the  prince.  He  was  not  of  a  com- 
municative temperament,  but  he  was  fond  of 
discussion  and  he  argued  ably  and  shrewdly, 
contributing  to  his  judgment  of  men  and  things 
a  soundness  of  appreciation,  a  perspicacity  and  a 
certain  attitude  of  philosophic  doubt  which  are 
characteristic  of  men  who,  like  himself,  have 
long  had  the  habit  of  seeing,  learning  and  reason- 
ing for  themselves.  Wherever  he  might  be — 
in  a  political  drawing-room,  at  the  theatre,  at 
the  club,  at  the  races,  at  a  restaurant — his  curi- 
osity was  always  on  the  alert;  he  was  eager  to 

gather  men's  views,  to  observe  their  attitudes; 
206 


KING  EDWARD   VII 

he  spoke  little,  but  he  was  very  clever  at  making 
others  speak;  his  gracious  simplicity  put  you  at 
your  ease ;  his  loud,  jovial  laugh  inspired  you  with 
confidence,  even  as  his  clear  eyes,  when  he  fixed 
them  on  you  with  a  cold  stare,  were  enough  to 
call  you  to  order  if  you  ventured  to  divert  the 
conversation  to  too  slippery  a  ground. 

I  was  never  attached  to  his  service,  properly 
speaking,  until  after  his  accession.  He  hated 
to  have  people  bothering  about  him;  besides, 
he  used  to  arrive  in  Paris  or  at  Cannes  un- 
announced ;  and  the  police  supervision  exercised 
about  his  person  was  so  discreet  that  he  did  not 
perceive  it  at  all.  I  can  remember  only  one 
attempt  made  against  his  life  :  this  was  when  the 
famous  anarchist  Sipido  fired  a  revolver  at  him, 
through  the  window  of  his  railway-carriage,  in 
Brussels,  while  he  was  passing  through  the 
station  with  the  Princess  of  Wales. 

In  the  following  year,  I  was  with  the  prince  in 
the  selfsame  carriage — one  of  the  berlines  which 
he  was  in  the  habit  of  using  for  his  journeys  on 
the  Continent — and  he  showed  me  the  mark  left 
by  the  bullet  in  a  corner  of  the  ceiling  : 

"Look,    Paoh,"   he  explained.      "The  bullet 

entered  just   here,   on  the  right,   smashing  the 

window-pane,  and,  before  burying  itself  in  the 

wood,  passed  across  the  compartment  and  nearly 

grazed  my  hat.     I  was  in  serious  danger  that 

day."     And,    tapping   me   on   the   shoulder,    he 

added,  gracefully,  "  Now  that  would  never  have 

happened  if  you  had  been  with  me  !  " 

207 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 


His  very  noticeable  partiality  for  the  south  of 
France  was  due  not  only  to  the  country  and  the 
climate,  though  he  appreciated  their  charm,  but 
also  to  the  life  of  society  and  sport,  which  offered 
him  more  satisfaction  and  more  amusement  in 
that  exquisite  setting  than  anywhere  else.  He 
was,  in  a  certain  sense,  King  of  the  Cote  d'Azur, 
where  nothing  was  decided  in  the  matter  of 
festivities  without  his  approval  and  consent. 
He  made  Cannes  his  headquarters  and  the  Cercle 
Nautique  at  Cannes  his  favourite  residence;  but 
his  kingdom  of  fashion  and  pleasure  extended 
beyond  Nice,  as  far  as  Mentone;  and  all  those 
winter-resorts  competed  for  the  honour  of  his 
visits.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  contributed  largely 
towards  developing  their  prosperity  by  attracting 
an  enormous  British  colony  in  that  direction. 

He  even  attracted  Queen  Victoria  to  the 
Riviera.  In  the  course  of  the  stays  which  that 
august  sovereign  made  at  Nice,  Cannes  and 
Mentone,  I  often  saw  the  Prince  of  Wales. 
Although  he  did  not  live  in  the  same  town  as  the 
Queen,  he  came  pretty  regularly  to  call  upon  her 
and  the  other  members  of  the  royal  family.  I 
have  many  a  time  been  in  a  position  to  observe 
the  attentions  which  he  lavished  upon  Queen 
Victoria,  the  very  respectful  deference  which  he 
showed  her  on  all  occasions  and  the  scrupulous 
care  with  which,  even  on  his  holiday  trips  abroad, 
he  fulfilled  his  duties  as  heir  apparent.  It 
208 


KING  EDWARD   VII 

became  incumbent  upon  him,  for  instance,  to 
return  the  visits  which  foreign  sovereigns  and 
princes,  staying  on  the  Riviera,  never  failed  to 
pay  the  venerable  Queen.  And,  as  these  royal 
visitors  were  very  numerous,  the  Prince  of  Wales's 
official  drudgery  often  took  up  a  great  deal  of  his 
time. 

The  King  absolutely  worshipped  the  memory 
of  Queen  Victoria,  for  whom,  as  a  mother,  he  had 
felt  a  profound  affection,  and,  as  a  queen,  an 
intense  admiration : 

"  My  mother,"  he  once  said  to  me,  "  is  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  politicians  of  the  day." 

For  instance,  he  always  had  opposite  him,  on 
his  writing-desk,  a  large  photograph  representing 
the  Queen  seated  at  her  table,  reading  a  document. 
This  photograph  accompanied  him  wherever  he 
went,  up  to  the  day  of  his  death  :  when  he  stayed 
at  an  hotel,  even  for  four-and-twenty  hours,  it 
was  the  first  object  which  he  himself  took  out  of 
his  dressing-case  and  placed  on  his  writing-table. 
On  the  day  after  the  great  sovereign's  funeral, 
to  which  I  had  the  honour  of  being  invited, 
the  prince,  who  had  just  been  proclaimed  king, 
said  to  me,  with  true  emotion,  taking  both  my 
hands : 

"  My  dear  Paoli,  I  know  all  the  affection  which 

my  dear  mother  felt   for  you    and  the  faithful 

attachment  which  you  have  always  shown  her; 

and  I  shall  never  forget  it.     This  memory  will  be 

a  new  reason  why  you  may  always  be  sure  of  my 

sympathy  and  that  of  my  family." 

p  209 


MY  ROYAL  CLIENTS 

I  had  imagined  that,  from  the  day  of  his 
ascending  the  throne,  I  should  have  no  further 
opportunity  of  seeing  him.  But  he  did  not 
sacrifice  to  his  new  responsibihties  either  his 
old  friends  or  his  taste  for  travelling.  It  is 
true  that,  when  staying  on  the  Continent,  he  led 
a  more  sedentary,  a  more  retired  life  than  before ; 
but  he  knew  everything,  saw  everything  and 
kept  in  touch  with  everybody  whose  personality 
interested  him.  He  worked  prodigiously,  whether 
in  the  train,  on  board  his  yacht,  or  at  the  hotel ; 
and  he  was  remarkably  skilful  in  combining 
serious  matters  with  amusement,  even  as  he 
knew  how  to  mingle  the  most  exquisite  simplicity 
with  that  sense  of  professional  and  royal  dignity 
with  which  he  was  so  profoundly  imbued. 

I  may  say  that  it  is  during  these  last  nine  years 
that  I  have  most  often  had  the  occasion  and  the 
opportunity  to  live  in  the  immediate  circle  of 
Edward  VII.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  accompanied 
him  on  all  his  journeys  on  French  soil;  and  I  will 
now  try  to  recall  these  more  recent  memories. 


The  King,  although  fond  of  travelling,  liked 
to  have  everything  arranged  and  settled  before- 
hand. He  had  inherited  his  mother's  methodical 
mind.  He  was  very  particular  about  the  details 
of  his  journeys  and  extraordinarily  clever  at 
ensuring  their  comfort.  As  soon  as  he  had 
decided  upon  going  to  the  Continent — and  he 
210 


KING   EDWARD   VII 

generally  fixed  the  date  two  months  in  advance — 
he  began  by  sending  for  his  courier,  M.  Fehr. 
M.  Fehr  was  the  great  organizer  of  the  King's 
travels.  He  was  a  Swiss  by  birth  and  had  begun 
by  being  a  courier  in  the  firm  of  Thomas  Cook  & 
Son.  In  this  capacity,  he  was  often  entrusted 
with  the  arrangements  for  the  journeys  of  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  and  he  had  the  good  luck  to  secure 
the  prince's  favour.  This  was  the  starting-point 
of  his  fortunes.  The  prince  took  him  into  his 
own  service;  and,  when,  at  last,  King  Edward 
ascended  the  throne,  M.  Fehr,  whose  ambition 
had  never  aimed  at  a  higher  title  than  that  of 
"  Cook's  courier,"  found  himself  raised  to  that  of 
"  the  King's  courier." 

He  did  not  lose  his  head  in  consequence  of  his 
promotion.  He  was  a  highly-intelligent,  very 
active  and  wonderfully  able  man ;  and  he  knew  how 
to  arrange  all  the  particulars  of  a  journey,  settle 
the  whole  programme,  assume  the  entire  respon- 
sibility and  look  after  his  royal  master's  in- 
terests, without  neglecting  a  single  detail.  It  came 
within  his  province,  in  fact,  to  choose  the  royal 
residences,  to  make  terms  with  the  railways,  to 
engage  the  King's  rooms  at  the  hotels  and  to 
pay  the  bills.  He  was  quite  ready  to  fight  the 
hotel-keepers  when  he  thought  that  the  charges 
had  been  "  laid  on  too  thick  " ;  for  the  matter  of 
that,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  insist  on  reductions 
that  sometimes  came  to  as  much  as  fifty  per  cent. 
His  rough  appearance  and  loud  way  of  talking 

made  resistance  difficult. 

P2  211 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

The  King's  suite,  when  travelhng,  was  com- 
paratively small.  It  usually  consisted  of  two 
equerries  and  a  physician.  General  Stanley 
Clarke  long  formed  part  of  this  little  peripatetic 
court  in  his  capacity  of  chief  equerry  to  the 
King;  he  was  latterly  appointed  to  the  office  of 
clerk-marshal.  The  equerries-in-ordinary,  who 
took  it  in  turns  to  accompany  His  Majesty,  were 
Colonel  "  Fritz  "  Ponsonby,  the  son  of  General 
Sir  Henry  Ponsonby,  who  used  always  to  travel 
with  Queen  Victoria,  Colonel  Sir  Arthur  David- 
son, Captain  the  Hon.  Seymour  J.  Fortescue 
and  the  Hon.  John  H.  Ward.  As  for  the  doctor, 
he  was  invariably  that  good  Sir  James  Reid, 
who,  with  the  inexhaustible  gaiety  that  delighted 
the  whole  court,  was  the  very  personification  of 
the  jovial  frankness  and  blunt  loyalty  of  the 
Scot. 


The  staff  of  servants  included  two  valets  and 
two  footmen.  The  first  valet,  M.  Meidinger, 
was  an  Austrian  by  birth  :  he  filled,  to  a  certain 
extent,  the  offices  of  groom  of  the  chambers  and 
butler  of  the  sovereign's  household  whenever 
His  Majesty  was  travelling  incognito.  The  King, 
whom  he  had  served  for  eighteen  years,  was  very 
much  attached  to  him  and  allowed  him  certain 
familiarities.  It  was  he  who  woke  His  Majesty 
every  morning;  and,  when  he  entered  the  room, 
the  King,  still  half  asleep,  regularly  asked  him  the 
same  question  : 
212 


KING   EDWARD   VII 

"  What's  the  weather  doing  to-day,  Meidinger?" 
Meidinger  also  put  out  the  King's  things, 
brought  him  the  newspapers  and  made  sure  that 
his  royal  master  had  everything  that  he  wanted, 
for  the  King  always  dressed  alone  and  even  tied 
his  own  tie,  with  special  care. 

Hawkins,  the  second  valet,  was  an  English- 
man :  he  looked  after  all  the  details  to  which  the 
dignity  of  the  first  valet  did  not  allow  him  to 
stoop.  One  of  his  chief  duties  was  to  make  the 
royal  bed.  He  was  better  acquainted  than 
any  one  with  the  King's  habits  and  tastes  :  he 
knew,  for  instance,  that  His  Majesty's  mattress 
must  never  be  turned  on  a  Friday.  This  was  a 
curious  superstition  of  the  King's  :  it  was  the  only 
one  I  ever  knew  him  to  cherish  and  he  made  no 
secret  of  it.  By  a  strange  coincidence,  I  hear 
that,  on  the  morning  of  his  death,  which  occurred 
on  a  Friday,  the  doctors,  forgetting  his  expressed 
wishes  amid  the  grave  cares  occasioned  by  the 
sudden  alteration  for  the  worse  in  his  condi- 
tion, ordered  his  mattress  to  be  turned,  hoping 
that  this  would  give  him  a  little  rest  after  a 
night  of  pain  :  a  few  minutes  before  midnight,  he 
drew  his  last  breath.  ...  I  hasten  to  say  that  I 
have  had  no  opportunity  of  checking  the  correct- 
ness of  this  particular ;  but  I  have  it  from  a  trust- 
worthy source.  On  the  other  hand,  I  have 
ascertained — and  his  superstition  about  the 
mattress  confirms  it — that  the  King  always  had  a 
presentiment  that  Friday  would  be  a  fatal  day 

for  him. 

213 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

The  two  footmen  who  accompanied  the  King 
when  traveUing  also  had  settled  duties.  One  of 
them,  Hoepfner,  was  a  German  and  owed  his 
brilliant  career  to  his  fine  carriage.  After  being 
enlisted  in  the  grenadiers  of  the  guard  of  the 
Emperor  William  II.,  because  of  his  tall  stature, 
he  soon  passed  into  the  service  of  the  Grand-duke 
Michael  of  Russia,  who  was  in  want  of  a  "  show  " 
footman  and  did  not  hesitate  to  rob  the  Kaiser's 
army  of  Hoepfner.  When  King  Edward  noticed 
his  gigantic  height  and  the  correctness  of  his 
bearing,  he  took  him  into  his  service  in  his  turn. 
Hoepfner  waited  on  the  sovereign  at  table  and 
opened  the  door  of  the  royal  apartments,  whereas 
the  other  footman,  a  British  subject  called  Wel- 
lard,  was  charged  exclusively  with  the  care  of 
His  Majesty's  clothes,  boots  and  dog,  an  absorbing 
duty  when  we  reflect  that  the  King  travelled  with 
seventy  pieces  of  luggage,  including  a  countless 
number  of  Gladstone  bags,  and  that  he  took  with 
him  some  forty  suits  of  clothes  and  over  twenty 
pairs  of  boots  and  shoes. 

There  was  also  the  dog. 

Caesar  was  a  person  of  importance.  This 
long-haired,  rough-coated,  white  fox-terrier,  with 
the  black  ears,  w^as  not  exactly  distinguished 
for  the  aristocratic  elegance  that  marks  Queen 
Alexandra's  dogs,  whose  acquaintance  I  have 
also  had  the  opportunity  of  making.  Caesar 
had  rather  what  we  Frenchmen  call  la  heaute  du 
diable  :  he  had  a  strong  personality  and  a  quick 
intelligence.  He  was  very  independent  in  his 
214 


KING   EDWARD   VII 

ways,  a  little  mischievous  and  playful  and  deeply 
attached  to  his  royal  master,  who  pampered  him 
as  one  would  a  child.  When  the  King  was 
travelling,  Caesar  went  with  him  everywhere  and 
did  not  leave  him  day  or  night,  for  he  slept  in  an 
easy-chair  to  the  right  of  his  bed.  He  was 
present  at  all  the  King's  meals  and  willingly 
accepted  any  bits  of  meat  or  sugar  which  the 
guests  offered  him.  I  succeeded  in  winning  his 
good  graces  and  we  became  first-rate  friends.  On 
the  other  hand,  once  he  was  out  of  doors,  he  cut 
all  his  acquaintances.  Whether  on  the  beach  at 
Biarritz  or  in  the  Rue  de  la  Paix  in  Paris,  he  was 
always  seen  at  the  King's  heels,  proudly  dis- 
playing a  collar  that  bore  the  legend,  "  I  am 
Caesar,  the  King's  dog."  And  it  was  as  though 
he  knew  it. 

When  Wellard,  the  second  footman,  had 
brushed  the  King's  clothes  and  cleaned  the 
King's  boots,  he  proceeded  to  groom  Caesar; 
for  the  high  favour  which  the  terrier  enjoyed  com- 
pelled him  to  be  always  scrupulously  clean.  Every 
morning,  he  was  washed  and  combed  with  care.  I 
will  not  go  so  far  as  to  swear  that  he  liked  it. 
Nevertheless,  he  submitted  to  it  with  resignation. 

The  staff  of  the  royal  journeys  furthermore 
included  the  motor-mechanic.  Stamper,  and  three 
chauffeurs  in  charge  of  the  three  motor-cars 
which  the  King  took  with  him  on  the  Continent. 
Lastly,  I  must  not  forget  to  mention  the  post- 
master, whose  functions  consisted  first  of  all  in 
translating    into   cipher   the   telegrams    written 

215 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

out  by  the  King  and,  conversely,  in  transcribing 
the  cipher  dispatches  received  from  London. 

He,  moreover,  received  and  prepared  the  govern- 
ment dispatch-boxes  which,  every  other  day, 
brought  papers  for  His  Majesty  to  read  or  sign 
and  in  which  the  official  documents  were  carried 
back  to  London;  he  also  deUvered  the  letters 
addressed  to  the  members  of  the  royal  suite  and 
staff. 

I  have  already  said  that  the  King  was  in  the 
habit  of  using  his  own  railway-carriages  on  all 
the  European  lines.  These  carriages  were  three 
in  number  and  were  built,  a  few  years  ago,  in  the 
workshops  of  the  International  Sleeping  Car 
Company.  They  are  marked  by  sober  elegance 
and  refined  comfort :  there  are  no  gildings  or 
carvings  or  showy  upholstery,  as  in  most  of  the 
royal  railway-carriages  which  I  have  known;  on 
the  other  hand,  there  are  plenty  of  soft  easy- 
chairs,  thick  carpets  and  spacious  cupboards. 
The  King's  smoking-carriage,  fitted  in  Spanish 
leather,  is  a  model  of  simple  good  taste.  King 
Edward,  when  not  travelling  officially  or  with  the 
Queen,  generally  used  only  one  of  these  berlines, 
which  was  placed  in  the  front  of  the  special 
train. 


6 

I  used,  of  course,  to  go  to  Calais  to  meet  him. 
As  soon  as  he  caught  sight  of  me,  he  never  failed 
to  say  : 
216 


KING   EDWARD   VII 

"  Still  young  and  flourishing  as  ever,  M. 
Paoli  ?  " 

The  King  was  full  of  indulgence  for  my  grey 
hairs. 

For  all  those  whom  he  was  accustomed  to  see 
on  landing  from  the  boat  he  had  a  pleasant  word, 
a  smile,  a  shake  of  the  hand.  He  felt  himself  at 
home;  and  this  sense  obviously  afforded  him 
the  liveliest  satisfaction.  During  the  run  in  the 
train  from  Calais  to  Paris,  he  nearly  always  sent 
for  me  to  his  carriage  and  questioned  me  about  a 
number  of  minute  facts  connected  with  Paris  life, 
which  proved  how  well-informed  he  was  of  all 
that  went  on  in  the  capital.  He  even  knew  the 
"  takings  "  of  certain  plays  which  were  reputed 
successes  or  "  frosts." 

The  moment  he  arrived  at  the  Hotel  Bristol, 
where  he  occupied  the  same  suite  of  rooms  on 
each  of  his  trips,  he  sent  for  the  proprietor 
and  asked  him  the  names  of  the  visitors  staying 
at  the  hotel,  so  that  he  might  see  if  there  were 
any  among  them  whom  he  knew.  He  also  had 
the  leading  Paris  newspapers  brought  to  him 
and  at  once  ran  his  eye  down  the  "  Dramatic 
Notes  "  column  before  settling  on  the  theatre 
which  he  proposed  to  visit  that  same  evening. 
He  then  informed  the  hotel,  which  promptly 
telephoned  for  two  boxes,  on  the  pit  tier,  nearest 
the  stage,  to  be  thrown  into  one  and  reserved  for 
the  King's  use.  The  hotel  also  generally  sent 
down  an  armchair  for  His  Majesty  to  sit  in ;  for 
the  King  looked  upon  the  chairs  in  our  theatres 
^  ^  217 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

as  uncomfortable  and  was  one  of  those  who  very 
rightly  think  that,  to  enjoy  a  performance 
properly,  it  is  essential  that  one  should  be 
comfortably  seated. 

Edward  VII.  did  not  care  much  for  tragedies 
or  plays  written  in  verse.  He  preferred  musical 
comedy  and,  above  all,  modern  society-pieces 
containing  plenty  of  subtle  and  caustic  psy- 
chology. One  of  his  favourite  playhouses  was 
the  Theatre  des  Varietes,  where,  as  Prince  of 
Wales,  he  had  so  often  applauded  Mme.  Jeanne 
Granier  in  Offenbach's  operas.  The  last  time 
that  he  went  there  was  in  1909,  to  attend  a 
performance  of  Le  Roi,  that  amusing  satire  by 
MM.  Emmanuel  Arene,  Robert  de  Flers  and 
Gaston  de  Caillavet.  There  was  even  a  brief 
reference  to  himself  in  the  play ;  and  his  photo- 
graph figured  prominently  on  a  table.  Accord- 
ingly, when  the  King  announced  his  visit,  the 
manager  and  the  authors  were  thrown  into  a 
great  state  of  excitement.  Would  the  King  not 
be  annoyed  at  seeing  himself  introduced  on  the 
stage,  although  the  allusion  made  to  him  was 
an  entirely  complimentary  one  ?  It  was  pru- 
dently resolved  to  replace  his  photograph  with 
that  of  another  monarch  and  his  name  with  that 
of  an  imaginary  sovereign.  But  the  King,  on 
hearing  of  this  little  subterfuge,  resisted  it 
forcibly.  They  were  obliged  to  yield  to  his 
wishes;  and,  when  the  famous  scene  came  on, 
he  was  the  first  to  laugh  at  it,  while  the  spectators 
applauded  this  thoroughly  Parisian  sense  of 
218 


KING    KDWAKD    VII.   AT   THE    ELYSEE. 


KING    KUWAl^IJ    VII.    WALKlXCi    IX    I'ARI- 


Wage  218. 


KING   EDWARD   VII 

humour  displayed  by  the  most  Parisian  of  our 
visitors* 

Edward  VII.  always  retained  a  small  circle  ol 
friends  whom  he  saw  regularly  during  his  visits 
to  Paris.  Those  whom  he  gathered  round  his 
table  on  these  occasions  included  the  Marquis  du 
Lau,  the  Marquis  and  Marquise  de  Breteuil, 
the  Marquis  and  Marquise  de  Ganay,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Standish,  General  the  Marquis  de  Gallifet, 
M.  fidouard  Detaille,  the  great  painter,  whose 
studio  he  never  failed  to  visit,  and  others.  For 
General  Gallifet,  in  particular,  he  cherished  a 
most  indulgent  fellow-feeling.  I  say  indulgent, 
because  he  allowed  the  general  that  liberty  of 
language  and  frankness  of  opinion  which  con- 
stituted one  of  the  most  picturesque  features 
in  the  personality  of  that  gallant  knight-errant, 
who  was  a  living  and  most  attractive  personifica- 
tion of  the  heroic  times  and  glorious  idylls  of 
old.  The  King  loved  his  sparkling  wit  and  his 
chivalrous  character.  I  remember  that,  when 
he  came  to  Paris  a  few  months  after  General 
de  Gallifet's  death,  he  said  to  me,  sadly  : 

"  You  see,  Paoli,  Gallifet's  disappearance  means 
a  great  deal  to  me.  It  leaves  a  blank.  I  have 
lost  a  friend  whom  I  shall  never  replace." 

And  yet  there  were  lively  discussions  between 
them,  in  1905,  in  connection  with  Morocco.  The 
general  considered  that  our  policy  in  Morocco 
was  dangerous  from  the  moment  that  our  minds 
were  not  frankly  made  up  to  go  to  war  with 
Germany.     It  is  not  my  business  to  express  an 

219 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

estimate  of  this  opinion  :  I  am  content  simply  to 
record  it.  The  King,  I  may  say,  never  men- 
tioned his  views  on  the  Morocco  question  in  my 
presence ;  but  his  acts,  in  their  silent  and  methodi- 
cal development,  were  infinitely  plainer  and 
more  eloquent  than  any  number  of  words.  His 
official  journey  to  France,  at  the  beginning  of 
our  difficulties  with  Germany,  and  his  cruise  in 
Moorish  latitudes  and  along  the  Algerian  coast, 
immediately  after  the  German  Emperor's  visit 
to  Tangiers,  were  deliberate  demonstrations  the 
significance  of  which  was  at  once  grasped  by 
public  opinion  in  France  and  roused  the  gratitude 
of  the  whole  nation. 

For  the  rest,  I  have  often  remarked  that  the 
King  was  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  French 
character  and  sometimes  knew  even  better  than 
our  own  statesmen  how  to  appreciate  the  real 
importance  of  things  that  happened  in  our 
country.  I  remember  that,  in  a  certaili  year — 
it  was  in  1907,  I  believe — Edward  VII.,  who  had 
just  finished  his  annual  cruise  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean, announced  his  arrival  in  Paris  on  the 
1st  of  May.  Now  the  socialist  unions  were 
preparing  great  demonstrations  in  the  streets 
for  that  very  day.  The  police  authorities  feared 
that  there  might  be  disturbances  in  the  capital. 
The  government  thereupon  informed  the  King 
that  it  would  perhaps  be  advisable  for  him  to 
delay  his  coming  by  twenty-four  hours ;  but  the 
King  would  not  hear  of  it. 

When  I  went  to  meet  him  at  the  frontier- 
220 


KING   EDWARD   VII 

station  of  Pontarlier,  with  instructions  to  make 
a  last  effort  to  induce  him  to  "  avoid  "  Paris, 
he  gave  me  a  quizzical  glance  and  said  : 

"  So  it's  true,  Paoli  ?  You  don't  want  me  in 
Paris  ?  " 

"  The  fact  is,  Sir,"  I  replied,  "  that  we  are 
afraid  lest  Your  Majesty  should  be  troubled  by 
manifestations." 

"  In  that  case,  you  can  be  quite  easy.  There 
will  be  nothing  of  the  sort.  Threatened  manifes- 
tations never  take  place  :  at  the  most,  the  people 
will  go  and  picnic  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  with 
their  wives  and  families.  You  see,  Paoli,  I  know 
your  fellow-countrymen  better  than  you  do. 
This  is  not  the  time  for  revolutions  and  bloodshed. 
People  shout,  threaten,,  sing  songs  and  go  home 
to  bed.  I  shall,  therefore,  arrive  quietly  in 
Paris  and  no  one  will  pay  the  smallest  attention 
to  me,  unless  it  be  the  journalists." 

He  was  right  and  we  were  wrong.  While  the 
anarchists  and  socialists  refrained  from  disturbing 
his  tranquillity,  the  reporters,  on  the  other  hand, 
clung  to  his  footsteps  with  the  most  provoking 
determination. 

This  habit  of  the  newspaper  men  was  pushed 
to  such  a  pitch,  at  the  time  of  his  first  private 
visit  to  Paris  after  his  accession,  that  he  lost  his 
patience  one  day  and  said  to  me  : 

"As  it  appears  that  I  can't  have  my  incognito 

respected,  I  shall  be  obliged,  to  my  great  regret, 

to  deprive  myself  of  the  pleasure  of  coming  to 

Paris  in  future." 

221 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

I  was  very  much  annoyed.  Do  what  I  could, 
it  was  impossible  to  throw  those  gentlemen  of 
the  press  off  the  scent  !  I  found  them  wherever 
the  King  went,  trotting  behind  his  carriage, 
waiting  outside  his  door.  In  my  despair,  I 
thought  of  resorting  to  an  expedient  which,  at 
first,  struck  me  as  rather  ingenious.  It  consisted 
in  discovering  a  double  for  the  King,  a  double 
whom  I  would  dress  in  the  latest  fashion  and  send 
to  the  right  when  our  guest  went  to  the  left,  to 
the  Gymnase  when  the  King  was  at  the  Varietes. 
As  it  happened,  I  knew  a  retired  detective- 
inspector  whose  resemblance  to  Edward  VII. 
was  so  striking  that  he  was  nicknamed 
"  Edouard  "  in  his  family-circle  and  among  his 
friends.  Feeling  convinced  that  he  would  be 
useful  to  me  in  emergencies,  I  sent  for  him  to 
come  to  my  office.  My  memory  had  not  deceived 
me.  He  was  more  like  the  King  than  ever; 
the  same  face,  the  same  clear  eyes,  the  same 
neatly-trimmed  beard  and  the  same  stoutness. 

But,  alas,  there  the  resemblance  ceased  ! 
When  it  became  a  matter  of  bowing,  walking  or 
smiling,  he  had  nothing  whatever  in  common 
with  His  Majesty.  I  realized  that  I  must 
abandon  the  notion  of  which  I  had  been  so 
proud  !  I  then  hit  upon  a  simpler  solution : 
calling  together  the  journalists  whose  daily  task 
it  was  to  report  on  the  King's  movements,  I 
made  an  appeal  to  their  sense  of  courtesy  and 
patriotism  and  besought  them  to  be  more  discreet 
in  the  performance  of  their  duties.  Lastly,  I 
222 


KING   EDWARD   VII 

offered  myself  to  hand  them,  every  evening,  a 
written  account  of  "  the  King's  day."  They 
accepted.  From  that  moment  the  King  was 
free  .  .  .  and  everybody  was  contented. 


Eclectic  in  his  tastes,  interested  in  every 
manifestation  of  the  thoughts  of  others,  careful 
of  his  prestige,  which  he  considered  one  of  the 
necessary  attributes  of  his  profession  as  a  king, 
admiring  intensely  every  ornament  of  the  mind, 
even  as  he  admired  every  form  of  beauty, 
affable  or  distant  as  the  occasion  demanded, 
looking  at  men  and  life  as  they  passed  before  his 
eyes  with  the  same  amused  curiosity  with  which 
he  would  watch  a  race  from  the  royal  stand,  this 
elegant,  fashionable  sovereign  was  profoundly 
alive,  not  only  to  his  rights,  but  also  to  his  duties. 
In  this  respect,  he  forgot  nothing  and  neglected 
nothing.  No  court,  family  or  historical  anni- 
versary was  ever  known  to  slip  his  memory.  He 
maintained  a  thoughtful  and  touching  cult  of 
those  who  had  gone  before  :  for  instance,  his  first 
visit,  on  arriving  at  Biarritz,  was  always  paid  to 
the  graves  of  the  English  soldiers  buried  in  the 
little  cemetery  at  Bayonne. 

He  inherited  his  mother's  instinct  of  the  family  : 
in  the  privacy  of  his  rooms  at  the  hotel,  even  if 
he  were  making  a  stay  of  only  twenty-four  hours, 
the  faithfulness  of  his  thought  for  his  kindred 
was  shown  by  the   promptness  with   which   he 

223 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

instructed  his  valet,  Meidinger,  to  adorn  his 
mantelpiece  and  his  tables  with  photographs  of 
the  princes  and  princesses  of  England,  amid 
which  the  delicate  features  and  graceful  figure  of 
Queen  Alexandra  stood  out  in  a  large  silver 
frame.  Lastly,  he  devoted  a  regular  hour,  every 
day,  to  his  private  correspondence. 

I  confess,  however,  that  what  struck  me  most 
in  the  course  of  the  many  weeks  which  I  had 
occasion  to  pass  in  his  environment  was  the 
immense  amount  of  work  which  he  succeeded  in 
transacting  in  the  midst  of  his  brilliant  life  of 
sport  and  society;  and  this  without  showing  or 
feeling  the  least  fatigue.  He  took  the  same 
active  part  in  affairs  of  State  when  travelling  as 
when  in  London.  He  was  admirably  methodical 
and  exacted  from  his  equerries  a  daily  tribute  of 
labour  which  was  considerable,  but  in  no  way 
disagreeable,  thanks  to  the  good-humour  and 
genial  courtesy  which  he  showed  in  his  relations 
with  them. 

As  soon  as  the  government  messenger  arrived 
from  London,  bringing  the  three  large  canvas 
bags,  each  sealed  with  a  red  seal  and  each  bearing 
a  badge  inscribed  with  the  simple  words  "  Post 
Office,"  after  the  postmaster  had  sorted  the 
many  envelopes  which  they  contained,  the  King 
examined  all  the  dispatches,  studied  them,  anno- 
tated them,  wrote  to  the  prime  minister  with  his 
own  hand,  himself  treated  all  the  important 
questions,  directed  how  the  others  were  to  be 
dealt  with  and  divided  the  work  between  his 
224 


KING   EDWARD   VII 

equerries.  These  two  gentlemen  had  separate 
files  for  each  government  department,  which 
were  kept  with  the  greatest  fastidiousness;  and 
it  was  marvellous  to  see  the  speed  and  accuracy 
with  which  they  were  able  to  obtain  information 
on  any  subject  likely  to  interest  the  King.  There 
was  never  any  confusion,  never  any  mistake. 
However  oppressive  their  task  might  be  at  times, 
they  accomplished  it  with  the  same  smiling, 
silent  imperturbability  as  though  they  were 
sitting  down  to  a  rubber  of  bridge. 

Naturally  it  was  at  Biarritz  that  I  saw  most  of 
the  King  and  those  about  him.  His  Majesty,  as 
everybody  knows,  had  given  up  his  former  habit 
of  spending  a  part  of  the  winter  on  the  Riviera  : 

"  I  no  longer  go  to  Cannes  and  Nice,"  he  said 
to  me,  one  day,  "  because  you  meet  too  many 
princes  there.  I  should  be  obliged  to  spend  all 
my  time  in  paying  and  receiving  visits,  whereas 
I  come  to  the  Continent  to  rest." 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  have  noticed  that  kings 
and  princes  prefer  to  "  avoid  "  one  another  when 
they  are  abroad,  as  witness  the  following  incident, 
of  which  I  was  a  bewildered  and  amused  specta- 
tor. It  was  in  the  spring  of  1908.  The  King  of 
England  had  just  arrived  in  Paris  and  had  taken 
a  box  for  the  same  evening  at  the  Theatre  des 
Capucines.  I  went  with  His  Majesty.  Leaving 
the  box  to  take  a  glance  at  the  tiny  house,  I  was 
surprised  to  see  the  King  of  the  Belgians  seated 
in  the  stalls. 

I  went  back  and  told  King  Edward. 

Q  225 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

"  I  am  delighted  to  hear  it,"  he  repUed. 

And,  from  that  moment,  he  carefully  refrained 
from  looking  in  the  direction  where  his  brother 
sovereign  was  sitting. 

When  the  King  of  England  had  left  the  theatre, 
I  waited  for  the  King  of  the  Belgians  at  the 
entrance.     After  paying  him  my  respects  : 

"  We  had  a  houseful  of  kings  to-night.  Sir,"  I 
said.  "  Do  you  know  that  the  King  of  England 
was  at  the  play,  too  ?  " 

"  You  don't  mean  to  say  so  !  "  he  said,  with  an 
air  of  the  greatest  surprise.  "  I  am  sorry  not 
to  have  seen  him  :  I  should  have  been  pleased 
to  go  and  shake  hands  with  him." 

After  King  Leopold  had  gone : 

"  He  knew  all  about  it  !  "  said  M.  Michel 
Mortier,  the  manager  of  the  theatre,  in  my  ear, 
"  I  told  him  myself  !  " 

And  yet  there  was  no  "  coolness  "  of  any  kind 
between  the  two  kings,  a  fact  of  which  I  was 
able  to  convince  myself  when  they  met  at  the 
Salon  the  next  morning  and  chatted  pleasantly 
for  a  quarter  of  an  hour. 


8 

At  Biarritz,  strictly  mapped-out  though  his 
days  were,  what  King  Edward  called  "  rest " 
nevertheless  admitted  of  a  singularly  active  life. 
Rising  regularly  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
he  began  by  taking  a  warm  bath  and  drinking  a 
glass  of  milk,  after  which  he  proceeded  to  dress. 
226 


KING   EDWARD   VII 

This  he  always  did  by  tiimself,  having  first  named 
the  different  suits  of  clothes  which  he  proposed 
to  wear  during  the  day. 

At  ten  o'clock,  breakfast  was  served,  consisting 
of  boiled  eggs,  grilled  bacon  and  fried  fish,  with 
a  marked  preference  for  smelts  and  small  trout, 
washed  down  with  a  large  cup  of  coffee  and  milk. 
He  next  sat  down  at  his  writing-table,  which  he 
did  not  leave  until  a  quarter-past  twelve  for  his 
daily  walk,  which  lasted  until  lunch-time,  one 
o'clock.  Lunch  invariably  included  plovers'  eggs, 
hard-boiled,  with  a  touch  of  paprika  pepper, 
which  were  followed  by  trout,  salmon  or  grilled 
soles,  a  meat  dish  and  stewed  fruit.  Plovers' 
eggs,  asparagus  and  strawberries  were  his  pet 
fare;  on  the  other  hand,  he  hated  butcher's 
meat  and  could  endure  nothing  heavier  than 
chicken,  except  an  occasional  slice  of  lamb. 

The  evening  meal,  which  was  fixed  at  a  quarter 
past  eight,  was  generally  pretty  copious;  and 
the  King  enjoyed  having  people  whom  he 
honoured  with  his  friendship  to  dinner;  but 
covers  were  never  laid  for  more  than  ten.  The 
King,  at  his  meals,  drank  chablis  and  Perrier 
water,  dry  champagne  and  occasionally  claret, 
with  a  glass  of  "  Napoleon  "  brandy  at  dessert. 
His  favourite  drink  between  meals  was  whisky 
and  soda. 

I  noticed  also  that  he  was  a  quick  eater  and 

did   not   allow  lunch  to  last   more  than  thirty 

minutes  nor  dinner  to  stretch  over  more  than 

forty  to  forty-five.     Also,  he  would  not  let  any 

Q2  227 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

servants  but  his  own  appear  in  the  dining-room. 
The  waiters  of  the  hotel  brought  the  dishes  to  the 
door  of  the  royal  suite,  where  the  King's  footman, 
Hoepfner,  took  them  and  handed  them  back  as 
each  course  was  finished. 

The  King,  lastly,  was  a  gieat  smoker.  In  his 
cigar-case,  which  his  valet  filled  for  him  every 
morning,  Henry  Clays,  of  the  brand  known  as 
"  Tsar,"  lay  side  by  side  with  Corona  y  Coronas. 
His  favourite  cigarettes  were  Royal  Derbies  and 
Laurens.  He  wore  on  his  watch-chain  a  tiny 
gold  match-box  engraved  with  the  royal  crown. 
I  ventured  one  day  to  admire  it,  whereupon 
he  at  once  took  it  from  his  chain: 

"  Accept  it,  my  dear  Paoli,"  he  said,  "  as  a 
souvenir.     I  should  like  you  to  have  it." 

And  he  very  graciously  obliged  me  to  fasten 
it  to  my  own  chain,  where  I  have  worn  it  ever 
since. 

The  King  also  possessed  a  remarkable  collection 
of  walking-sticks,  all  of  which  were  adorned 
with  his  monogram  in  biilliants  :  an  "  E  " 
surmounted  by  a  crown.  There  was  one,  in 
particular,  to  which  he  was  greatly  attached  :  it 
used  to  belong  to  Queen  Victoria  and  was  said 
to  come  from  a  branch  of  the  oak  in  which  King 
Charles  II.  took  shelter  when  fleeing  from 
Cromwell's  troopers  after  the  battle  of  Worcester. 
It  was  handed  down  by  the  descendants  of  the 
Stuarts  and  bore  their  monogram,  until  the 
Queen  had  this  replaced  by  an  exquisite  little 
figure  of  a  Hindoo  goddess  discovered,  in  the 
228 


KING   EDWARD   VII 

course  of  some  excavations,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Ganges.  The  King,  of  course,  never  used  this 
precious  stick,  at  least  not  when  travelHng. 

There  was  another  peculiarity  which  I  had 
occasion  to  observe  :  all  the  King's  overcoats  had 
a  little  white  silk  cross  stitched  on  the  lining, 
just  beneath  the  collar.  It  appears  that  this 
was  the  compulsory  badge  worn  by  the  knights 
of  Malta,  whose  traditions  were  respected  by  the 
King  in  his  capacity  as  grand  master  of  the 
order. 


During  his  stay  at  Biarritz,  the  King  went  for 
a  drive  every  afternoon  in  his  motor-car.  The 
superintendent  of  the  English  police  and  I  used 
to  follow  in  a  second  car.  He  liked  stopping  at 
the  Basque  villages,  visiting  the  churches,  watch- 
ing a  game  of  pelota;  and  he  never  went  away 
without  leaving  a  token  of  his  generosity  behind 
him  for  the  poor. 

When  they  heard  of  his  presence  at  Biarritz, 
numbers  of  needy  people  imagined  that  Heaven 
had  sent  them  an  unexpected  windfall ;  and  a 
regular  swarm  of  beggars  came  down  upon  the 
town.  Fearing  lest  the  sovereign  should  be 
importuned,  I  had  them  all  sent  away,  with  the 
exception  of  two  old  blind  *  beggars,  whose 
character  was  known  to  me  and  who  were  worthy 
of  all  pity.  Regularly,  whatever  the  weather, 
they    posted   themselves   daily,  at    the  time   of 

229 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

the  King's  walk,  on  the  road  that  led  to  the 
beach.  As  soon  as  they  heard  Caesar  barking — 
the  dog  could  never  bring  himself  to  tolerate 
them  ! — they  held  out  their  bowls  and  each  of 
them,  with  the  sleeve  of  his  coat,  dusted  the 
placard  on  his  chest,  inscribed,  in  big  clumsy 
letters,  with  the  time-honoured  formula,  "  Pity 
the  poor  blind."  The  King  walked  up  to  them, 
dropped  a  handsome  alms  in  their  respective 
trays  and  said,  as  he  passed  : 
"  Till  to-morrow  !  " 

Now  it  happened  that,  one  morning,  he  saw 
only  one  of  the  blind  men  at  the  usual  spot. 
Startled  and  fearing  lest  some  accident  had 
befallen  the  other — for  he  had  gradually  become 
accustomed  to  the  sight  of  those  faithful  sentries 
— he  made  enquiries  about  the  absentee.  No 
one  had  seen  him.  The  next  day,  the  second 
blind  man  was  at  his  post  again. 

"  Were  you  ill  yesterday  ?  "  asked  the  King. 
"  No,  monsieur  le  Roi." 
"  Then  you  were  late  ?  " 

"  Excuse  me,  monsieur  le  Roi,  I  beg  your 
pardon,"  the  old  man  answered,  not  knowing 
what  to  say.     "  You  were  early  !  " 

"  A  thousand  apologies  !  "  replied  the  King, 
laughing  heartily. 

Edward  VII.,  as  I  have  already  implied,  had 
an  immense  sense  of  humour.  He  was  once  at 
Biarritz  during  the  elections  for  the  municipal 
council  and  he  took  a  playful  pleasure  in  stopping 
in  front  of  the  candidates'  posters  and  reading 
230 


KING   EDWARD   VII 

them,  like  any  ordinary  elector.  One  day,  when 
he  was  looking  at  a  newly-posted  placard,  a 
rough  sort  of  fellow  by  his  side,  calling  his  mate's 
attention  to  the  sovereign,  said  : 

"  I'll  bet  you  that  cove  there,  in  the  grey 
overcoat,  is  a  royalist !  " 

King  Edward  heard  him,  turned  round  and 
answered,  with  a  smile  : 

"  So  I  wear  my  opinions  on  my  clothes  ?  " 

He  also  enjoyed  talking  to  poor  people  and 
visiting  their  humble  dwellings.  I  remember  an 
incident  that  happened  during  a  brief  stay  which 
he  made  at  Marseilles,  before  embarking  on  his 
Mediterranean  cruise.  We  were  returning  from 
Aix-en-Provence,  where  we  had  been  for  a  motor- 
drive.  It  came  on  to  rain  very  heavily  and  the 
royal  cars  stopped  at  the  village  of  Tholouet, 
where  the  King  rested  for  a  few  minutes  in  a  way- 
side shanty  kept  by  a  peasant  called  Thome  and 
his  wife.  Thome  was  out;  and  his  wife  served 
the  sovereign  and  the  members  of  his  suite  as 
though  they  were  ordinary  customers.  The 
rain  soon  brought  M.  Thome  home.  He  entered 
his  inn,  placidly  puffing  at  a  great  long  pipe  : 

"  What  filthy  weather  !  "  he  said.  "  And  to 
think  that  people  go  motoring  in  a  rain  like 
this  !  " 

He  next  opened  the  door  of  the  room  in  which 
the  King  was,  and  shouted  : 

"  Hullo,  Gravary,  what  are  you  doing  here  ? 
You're  looking  as  fine  as  a  fresh-scraped  carrot 

to-day  !  " 

231 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

He  had  only  caught  sight  of  the  King's  back 
and  took  him  for  one  of  his  own  friends,  dressed 
out  in  his  Sunday  best.  His  Majesty's  aide-de- 
camp, Captain  Seymour  Fortescue,  recalled  him 
to  a  sense  of  the  reality  of  things  by  whispering 
to  him  to  hold  his  tongue  : 

"  You're  speaking  to  the  King  of  England,"  he 
said. 

"  To  the  King !  "  The  wretched  Thome 
turned  pale.  "  Mon  Dieu,  que  m'arriba  .'  "  he 
exclaimed,  in  his  native  patois. 

He  has  since  religiously  preserved  the  poor 
cane-bottomed  chair  in  which  Edward  VII.  sat 
and  the  glass  from  which  His  Majesty  took  a  sip 
of  brandy  from  a  bottle  marked  with  two  stars. 

The  fact  is  that  the  spell  which  Edward  VII. 
cast  over  all  those  who  had  the  honour  to  ap- 
proach him  was  so  great  that  any  one  was  anxious 
to  preserve  a  lasting  memorial  of  the  favour 
received.  His  simple  geniality  and  his  discreet 
kindliness  won  the  heart  of  the  crowds  as  readily 
as  his  intellectual  superiority  conquered  the 
deferential  esteem  of  the  cream  of  society.  In 
the  cottage  homes  of  France  people  said,  "  That's 
a  good  man;"  and  in  the  political  drawing- 
rooms  people  thought,  "  That  is  a  great  king." 

I  do  not  know  if  these  notes  will  help  history 
to  preserve  a  picture  of  his  powerful  personality 
in  the  charm  of  its  intimacy.  This,  at  any  rate, 
has  not  been  my  ambition.  I  simply  wish  them 
to  recall  to  the  memory  of  those  who  have  come 
into  contact  with  him  the  man  whom  they  have 
232 


KING   EDWARD   VII 

known  in  the  sovereign ;  the  man  with  the  great 
heart  and  the  great  mind  that  stamped  all  his 
thoughts,  all  his  acts,  all  his  attitudes  with  a 
fascinating  individuality;  the  friend  who  under- 
stood us  Frenchmen  better  than  any  one  who- 
soever, and  who  lavished  upon  us  the  most 
delicate  tokens  of  his  admiration  and  of  his 
affectionate  regard. 


233 


CHAPTER   VIII 

QUEEN   WILHELMINA   OF   THE    NETHERLANDS 

1 

I  HAD  the  honour  of  presenting  myself  to 
Queen  Wilhelmina,  on  the  1st  of  November 
1895,  at  Geneva,  the  city  where,  a  year  earlier, 
I  had  gone  to  meet  the  tragic  and  charming 
Empress  Elizabeth  of  Austria,  and  where,  three 
years  later,  I  was  fated  to  see  her  lying  on  a  bed 
in  an  hotel,  stabbed  to  death.  The  official 
instructions  with  which  I  was  furnished  stated 
that  I  was  to  accompany  Their  Majesties  the 
Queen  and  Queen  Regent  of  the  Netherlands 
from  Geneva  to  Aix-les-Bains,  and  to  ensure  their 
safety  during  their  stay  on  French  soil. 

I  have  preserved  a  pleasant  recollection  of  this 
presentation,  which  took  place  on  the  station- 
platform  on  a  dull,  wintry  morning.  I  remember 
how,  while  I  was  introducing  myself  to  General 
Du  Monceau,  the  Queen's  principal  aide-de-camp, 
there  suddenly  appeared  on  the  foot-board  of  the 
royal  carriage  a  young  girl  with  laughing  eyes, 
her  face  agleam  and  pink  under  her  flaxen 
tresses,  very  simply  dressed  in  a  blue  tailor-made 
skirt  and  coat,  with  a  big  black  boa  round  her 
neck.  And  I  remember  a  fresh,  almost  childish 
234 


yUKEX    WILHELMIXA    (>¥    THE    XETHEKLANUS. 


[Pa^t-  234. 


QUEEN   WILHELMINA 

voice  that  made  the  general  give  a  brisk  half-turn 
and  a  courtly  bow : 

"  General,"  it  said,  "  don't  forget  to  buy  me 
some  postcards  I  ' 

This  pink,  fair-haired  girl,  with  the  clear  voice, 
was  Queen  Wilhelmina,  who  at  that  time  was  the 
very  personification  of  the  title  of  "  the  little 
Queen "  which  Europe,  with  one  accord,  had 
bestowed  upon  her,  a  title  suggestive  of  fragile 
grace,  touching  familiarity  and  affectionate 
deference.  She  was  just  sixteen  years  of  age. 
It  was  true  that,  as  a  poet  had  written  : 

"  A  pair  of  woman's  eyes  already  gazed 
Above  her  childish  smile;" 

and  that  her  apprenticeship  in  the  performance 
of  a  queen's  duties  had  already  endowed  her 
mind  with  a  precocious  maturity.  Nevertheless, 
her  prompt  astonishment,  her  spontaneity,  her 
frank  gaiety,  her  reckless  courage  showed  that 
she  was  still  a  real  girl,  in  the  full  sense  of  the 
word.  She  hastened,  happy  and  trusting,  to  the 
encounter  of  life ;  she  blossomed  like  the  tulips  of 
her  own  far  fields;  she  was  of  the  age  that  gives 
imperious  orders  to  destiny,  that  lives  in  a  palace 
of  glass  !  I  doubt  whether  she  really  understood 
— although  she  never  made  a  remark  to  me  on 
the  subject — that  the  French  government  had 
thought  itself  obliged  to  appoint  a  solemn  func- 
tionary— even  though  it  were  only  M.  Paoli  ! — 
whose  one  and  only  mission  was  to  protect  her 
against  the  dagger  of  a  possible  assassin.  The 
sweet  little  Queen  could  not  imagine  herself  to 

235 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

possess  an  enemy;  and  the  people  who  had  ap- 
proached her  hitherto  had  learnt  nothing  from  her 
but  her  gentle  kindness. 

As  for  Queen  Emma,  she  was  as  simple  and  as 
easy  of  access  as  her  daughter,  although  more 
reserved.  She  fulfilled  her  double  task  as  regent 
and  mother,  as  counsellor  and  educator,  with 
great  dignity,  bringing  to  it  the  virile  authority, 
the  spirit  of  decision  and  the  equability  of  char- 
acter which  we  so  often  find  in  women  summoned 
by  a  too-early  widowhood  to  assume  the  responsi- 
bilities of  the  head  of  a  family.  And  nothing 
more  edifying  was  ever  seen  than  the  close  union 
that  prevailed  between  those  two  illustrious 
ladies,  who  never  left  each  other's  side,  taking  all 
their  meals  alone,  though  they  were  accompanied 
by  a  numerous  suite,  and  living  in  a  constant 
communion  of  thought  and  in  the  still  enjoyment 
of  a  mutual  and  most  touching  affection. 

Their  suite,  as  I  have  said,  was  a  numerous  one. 
In  fact,  it  consisted,  in  addition  to  Lieutenant- 
general  Count  Du  Monceau,  of  two  chamber- 
lains :  Colonel  (now  Major-general)  Jonkheer 
Willem  van  de  Poll  and  Jonkheer  Rudolph  van 
Pabst  van  Bingerden  (now  Baron  van  Pabst  van 
Bingerden) ;  a  business  secretary  :  Jonkheer  P.  J. 
Vegelin  van  Claerbergen ;  two  ladies-in-waiting  : 
"  Mesdemoiselles  les  Baronnes"  (as  they  were 
styled  in  the  Dutch  protocol)  Ehsabeth  van 
Ittersum  and  Anna  Juckema  van  Burmania 
Rengers ;  a  reader  :  Miss  Kreusler ;  five  waiting- 
women;  and  five  footmen.  Compared  with  the 
236 


QUEEN   WILHELMINA 

tiny  courts  that  usually  accompanied  other 
sovereigns  when  travelling,  this  made  a  rather 
imposing  display  !  Nevertheless  and  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  this  sixteen-year-old  Queen 
appeared  to  me  decked  in  all  the  glory  of  a  fairy 
princess,  I  am  bound  to  admit  that  the  royal 
circle  presented  none  of  the  venerable  austerity 
and  superannuated  grace  so  quaintly  conjured 
up  in  Perrault's  Tales.  The  jonkheers  ^  were 
not  old  lords  equipped  with  shirt  frills  and  snuff- 
boxes; mesdemoiselles  les  haronnes  were  not  stern 
duennas  encased  in  stiff  silk  gowns  :  the  court 
was  young  and  gay,  with  that  serene  and  healthy 
gaiety  which  characterizes  the  Dutch  tempera- 
ment. 

Why  was  it  going  to  Aix  ?  The  choice  of  this 
stay  puzzled  me.  Aix-les-Bains  is  hardly  ever 
visited  in  November.  The  principal  hotels  are 
closed,  for,  in  that  mountainous  region,  winter 
sets  in  with  full  severity  immediately  after  the 
end  of  autumn. 

I  put  the  question  to  General  Du  Monceau,  who 
explained  to  me  that  the  doctors  had  recom- 
mended Queen  Wilhelmina  to  take  a  three-weeks' 
cure  of  pure,  keen  air ;  and  that  was  why  they  had 
selected  Aix,  or  rather  the  Corbieres,  a  spot 
situated  at  2,000  feet  above  Aix,  on  the  slope  of 
the  Grand  Revard. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  there  was  no  hotel 
there;  and  the  only  villa  in  the  neighbourhood 

1  Jonkheer  is  a  Dutch  hereditary  title  of  nobility,  ranking 
below  that  of  baron. — Translator's  Note. 

237 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

had  to  be  hired  for  the  Queen's  use.  This  was  a 
large  wooden  chalet,  standing  on  the  edge  of  a 
pine-forest,  close  to  the  hamlet.  The  wintry 
wind  whistled  under  the  doors  and  howled  down 
the  chimneys;  there  was  no  central  heating- 
apparatus  and  huge  fires  were  lit  in  every  room. 
From  the  windows  of  this  rustic  dwelling,  the  eye 
took  in  the  amphitheatre  of  the  mountains  of 
Savoy  and  their  deep  and  beautiful  valleys ;  and, 
above  the  thatched  roofs  ensconced  among  the 
trees,  one  saw  little  columns  of  blue  smoke  rise 
trembling  to  the  sky. 

Snow  began  to  fall  on  the  day  after  our  arrival. 
It  soon  covered  the  mountains  all  around  with  a 
cloak  of  dazzling  white,  spread  a  soft  carpet  over  the 
meadows  before  the  house  and  powdered  the  long 
tresses  of  the  pines  with  hoar-frost.  And  a  great 
silence  ensued ;  and  I  seemed  to  be  living  more  and 
more  in  the  midst  of  a  fairy-tale. 

The  court  settled  down  as  best  it  could.  The 
two  Queens  occupied  three  unpretending  rooms 
on  the  first  floor ;  the  royal  suite  divided  the  other 
apartments  among  them;  some  of  the  servants 
were  lodged  in  a  neighbouring  farm-house.  As 
for  myself,  I  was  bound  to  keep  in  daily  tele- 
graphic touch  with  Paris  and  with  the  prefect  of 
the  department;  and  I  found  it  more  convenient 
to  sleep  at  Aix.  I  went  up  to  the  Corbieres  every 
morning  by  the  funicular  railway,  which  had  been 
reopened  for  the  use  of  our  royal  guests,  and  went 
down  again,  every  evening,  by  the  same  route. 

The  two  Queens,  who  appeared  to  revel  in  this 
238 


QUEEN   WILHELMINA 

austere  solitude,  had  planned  out  for  themselves 
a  regular  and  methodical  mode  of  life.  They 
were  up  by  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  and 
walked  to  the  hamlet,  chatted  with  the  peasants 
and  cow-herds  and,  after  a  short  stroll,  returned 
to  the  villa,  where  Queen  Emma,  who,  at  that 
period,  was  still  exercising  the  functions  of  regent, 
dispatched  her  affairs  of  State,  while  little  Queen 
Wilhelmina  employed  her  time  in  studying  or 
drawing,  for  she  was  a  charming  and  gifted 
draughtswoman.  She  loved  nothing  more  than 
to  jot  down  from  life,  so  to  speak,  such  rustic 
scenes  as  offered  :  peasant-lads  leading  their  cows 
to  the  fields,  or  girls  knitting  or  sewing  on  the 
threshold  of  their  doors.  The  people  round  about 
came  to  know  this;  they  also  knew  that  Her 
Majesty  was  in  the  habit  of  generously  rewarding 
her  willing  models.  And  so,  as  soon  as  she  had 
installed  herself  with  her  sketch-book  and  pencils, 
by  the  roadside,  or  in  her  garden,  cows  or  little 
pigs,  accompanied  by  their  owners,  would  spring 
up  as  though  by  magic  ! 

I  have  said  that  the  Queens  were  in  the  habit 
of  taking  their  meals  alone.  Nevertheless,  out- 
side meals,  they  mingled  very  readily  with  the 
members  of  their  suite,  whom  they  honoured  with 
an  affectionate  familiarity. 

The  afternoons — whatever  the  weather  might 
be — were  devoted  to  long  walks,  on  which  Queen 
Wilhelmina  used  to  set  out  accompanied  generally 
by  one  or  two  ladies-in-waiting  and  a  chamber- 
lain;   sometimes   I   would   go   with   her   myself. 

239 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

Queen  Emma,  knowing  her  daughter's  inde- 
fatigable venturesomeness,  had  given  up  accom- 
panying her  on  her  expeditions.  We  often  returned 
covered  with  snow,  our  faces  blue  with  the  cold, 
our  boots  soaked  through ;  but  it  made  no  differ- 
ence :  the  little  Queen  was  delighted.  She  dusted 
her  gaiters,  shook  her  skirt  and  her  pale  golden 
hair  that  hung  over  her  shoulders  and  said  : 

"  I  wish  that  it  were  to-morrow  and  that  we 
were  starting  out  again  !  " 


Queen  Wilhelmina  was  very  expansive  in  her 
manner  and  yet  very  thoughtful.  Trained 
in  the  strictest  principles  by  a  watchful  and 
inflexible  mother,  she  had  learnt  from  childhood 
to  shirk  neither  work  nor  fatigue,  to  brave  the 
inclemencies  of  the  weather,  to  distinguish  herself 
alike  in  bodily  and  in  mental  exercises,  in  short, 
to  prepare  herself  in  the  most  serious  fashion  for 
her  duties  as  queen  and  to  realize  all  the  hopes  that 
were  centred  on  her  young  head. 

I  often  had  occasion,  during  my  stay  at  the 
Corbieres,  to  notice  the  thoroughness  of  her 
education.  She  already  spoke  four  languages, 
in  addition  to  her  mother-tongue,  fluently  : 
French,  Russian,  English  and  German.  She 
interested  herself  in  agricultural  matters  and  was 
not  unacquainted  with  social  questions  :  for 
instance,  she  often  made  me  talk  to  her  about  the 
condition  of  the  workmen  in  France  and  the 
240 


QUEEN   WILHELMINA 

organization  of  our  administrative  systems;  nay 
more,  she  was  beginning  to  study  both  judicial 
and  constitutional  law.  I  would  not,  however, 
go  so  far  as  to  say  that  this  study  aroused  her 
enthusiasm :  she  preferred,  I  believe,  to  read 
historical  books;  she  took  a  great  interest  in  the 
Napoleonic  idyll,  and,  knowing  me  to  be  a  fellow- 
countryman  of  Bonaparte  : 

"  You  must  feel  very  sorry,"  she  said  to  me,  one 
day,  *'  that  you  came  too  late  to  see  him  !  " 

She  also  liked  to  talk  to  me  about  her  ponies  : 

"  I  have  four,"  she  told  me,  "  and  I  drive  them 
four-in-hand." 

I  was  often  invited  to  share  the  meals  of  the 
miniature  court  and  to  take  my  seat  at  the  table 
of  the  chamberlains  and  ladies-in-waiting,  which 
was  presided  over,  with  charming  courtesy  and 
geniality,  by  my  excellent  friend  Count  Du 
Monceau,  who,  although  a  Dutch  general,  was  of 
French  origin,  as  his  name  shows.^ 

At  one  of  these  dinners,  I  met  with  a  little  mis- 
hap which  gave  a  great  shock  both  to  my  patriot- 
ism and  to  my  natural  gluttony.  The  cook  of 
the  villa,  M.  Perreard,  was  a  native  of  Marseilles 
and  owned  an  hotel  at  Cannes,  where  I  had  made 
his  acquaintance.  In  his  twofold  capacity  as  a 
Marseillese  and  a  cook,  he  was  a  great  hand  at 
making  bouillabaisse,  the  national  dish  of  the 
people  of  the  south.     Now,  as  he  knew  that  I  was 

1  The  family  of  Dumonceau  is  of  Belgian  origin  and 
derives  from  an  ancestor  in  the  parish  of  Saint-Gery, 
Brussels. — Translator's  Note. 

R  241 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

very  fond  of  this  dainty,  he  said  to  me,  one  day, 
with  a  great  air  of  mystery  : 

"  M.  PaoH,  I  have  a  pleasant  surprise  in  store 
for  you  at  lunch  this  morning.  I  have  sent  to 
Marseilles  for  fish  and  shell-fish  so  as  to  give  you 
a  bouillabaisse  cooked  in  the  way  you  know  of. 
Not  another  word  !  But  they'll  have  a  good  time 
up  there,  I  can  tell  you,  those  people  from  the 
north  who  have  never  tasted  it !  " 

As  soon  as  we  had  sat  down,  I  saw  with  delight 
the  great  soup-tureen,  whence  escaped  a  delicious 
fragrance  of  bouillabaisse.  The  members  of  the 
royal  suite  cast  inquisitive  glances  at  this  dish, 
unknown  to  them,  and  prepared  to  do  honour  to 
it  with  a  good  grace.  Before  tasting  it  myself, 
I  watched  the  expression  of  their  faces.  Alas,  a 
grievous  disappointment  awaited  me  !  Hardly 
had  they  touched  their  spoons  with  their  lips, 
when  they  vented  their  disgust  in  different  ways. 
Baroness  van  Ittersum  made  a  significant  grimace, 
while  Jonkheer  van  Pabst  pushed  away  his  plate 
and  Baroness  Rengers  suppressed  a  gesture  of 
repugnance. 

However,  out  of  consideration  for  my  feelings, 
they  were  silent;  so  was  I.  They  waited  in  all 
kindness  for  me  to  enjoy  my  treat;  but  one  act 
of  politeness  deserves  another  :  there  was  nothing 
for  me  to  do,  in  my  turn,  but  to  forgo  my  share, 
all  the  more  so  as  I  did  not  feel  inclined  to  present 
the  ridiculous  spectacle  of  a  man  eating,  by  him- 
self, a  dish  which  all  his  neighbours  loathe  and 
detest. 
242 


QUEEN   WILHELMINA 

The  bouillabaisse,  therefore,  disappeared 
straightway,  untouehed  and  still  steaming, 
beating,  as  it  were,  a  silent  retreat.  But  I  will 
not  attempt  to  describe  the  rage  which  M.  Per- 
reard  subsequently  poured  into  my  ears. 


When  the  Queen  had  explored  all  the  woods 
and  ravines  close  at  hand,  she  naturally  wished 
to  extend  the  radius  of  her  excursions.  She  was 
a  fearless  walker  and  was  not  to  be  thwarted  by 
the  steepest  paths,  even  when  these  were  filled 
with  snow  in  which  one's  feet  sank  up  to  the 
ankles.  I  urgently  begged  the  young  sovereign 
never  to  venture  far  afield  without  first  informing 
me  of  her  intentions.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I 
knew  how  easy  it  was  to  lose  one's  self  in  the  maze 
of  mountains,  where  one  misses  the  trace  of  any 
road ;  and  I  was  also  afraid  of  unpleasant  meet- 
ings, for  Savoy  is  often  infested  with  strangers 
from  beyond  the  Piedmontese  frontier  who  come 
to  France  in  search  of  work. 

Lastly,  there  was  "  the  black  man."  The 
legend  of  this  black  man  was  current  throughout 
the  district,  where  it  spread  a  secret  terror. 
Stories  were  told  in  the  hamlet  of  a  man  dressed 
in  black  from  head  to  foot,  who  roamed  at  night- 
fall through  the  neighbouring  forests.  He  had 
eyes  of  fire  and  was  frightfully  lean. 

The  peasants  were  convinced  that   it  was   a 

ghost,  for  he  never  answered  when  spoken  to  and 

R2  248 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

disappeared  as  soon  as  any  one  drew  near.  I 
did  not,  of  course,  share  the  superstitious  terrors 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Corbieres;  but  I 
thought  that  the  ghost  might  be  some  tramp  or 
marauder  and  I  did  not  care  for  the  Queens  to 
come  across  him.  Imagine  my  alarm,  therefore, 
when,  one  afternoon,  after  I  had  gone  down  to 
Aix,  I  was  handed  the  following  laconic  telegram  : 

"  Queen  gone  walk  without  notice  late  returning." 

To  jump  into  the  funicular  railway  and  go  back 
to  the  Corbieres  was  for  me  the  work  of  a  few 
minutes.  There  I  heard  that  Queen  Wilhelmina 
had  gone  out  with  her  two  ladies-in-waiting, 
saying  that  she  meant  to  take  a  little  exercise, 
as  she  had  not  been  out  all  day,  and  that  she  would 
be  back  in  an  hour.  Two  hours  had  elapsed, 
the  Queen  had  not  returned  and  Queen  Emma 
was  beginning  to  feel  seriously  alarmed. 

I  at  once  rushed  out  in  search  of  Her  Majesty, 
questioning  the  people  whom  I  met  on  my  way. 
No  one  had  seen  her.  I  ran  into  the  forest,  where 
I  knew  that  she  was  fond  of  going ;  I  called  out  : 
no  reply.  Growing  more  and  more  anxious,  I  was 
about  to  hunt  in  another  direction,  when  my  eyes 
fell  upon  traces  of  feet  that  had  left  their  imprint 
on  the  snow.  I  examined  them  :  the  foot-prints 
were  too  small  to  belong  to  a  man;  they  had 
evidently  been  made  by  women's  shoes.  I 
therefore  followed  the  trail  as  carefully  as  an 
Indian  hunter.  Nor  was  I  mistaken  :  after  half- 
244 


QUEEN   WILHELMINA 

an-hour's  walk,  I  heard  clear  voices  call  out  and 
soon  I  saw  the  little  Queen  arrive,  happy  and 
careless,  followed  by  her  two  companions  : 

"  Well,  M.  Paoli,  you  were  running  after  us,  I 
will  bet  you  were  !  .  .  .  Just  think,  we  got  lost 
without  knowing  and  were  looking  for  our  way. 
It  was  great  lun  !  " 

I  did  not  venture  to  admit  that  I  was  far  from 
sharing  this  opinion,  and  I  confined  myself  to 
warning  the  Queen  that  her  mother  was  anxious 
about  her. 

"  Then  let  us  hurry  back  as  fast  as  we  can,"  she 
said,  her  face  suddenly  becoming  overcast. 

And  I  have  no  doubt  that  Her  Majesty,  on 
her  return,  received  a  sound  scolding. 

Strangely  enough,  I  was  able  to  lay  my  hand 
upon  "  the  black  man  "  on  the  evening  of  the 
very  same  day.  It  was  a  bright  night,  with  the 
moon  shining  on  the  snow-clad  mountains,  and  I 
resolved  to  go  down  to  Aix  on  foot,  instead  of 
using  the  funicular  railway.  I  therefore  took  the 
path  that  led  through  the  wood  ;  and,  on  reaching 
a  glade  at  a  few  yards  from  the  royal  villa,  I 
perceived  a  shadow  that  appeared  to  be  hiding 
behind  the  trees  : 

"  There's  the  famous  black  man,"  I  thought. 

But,  as  the  shadow  had  all  the  air  of  an  animal 
of  the  human  species,  I  also  contemplated  the 
possible  presence  of  an  anarchist  charged  to  watch 
the  approaches  to  the  royal  residence.  I  took 
out  my  revolver  and  shouted  : 

"  ^^Oio  goes  there  ?  " 

245 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

"  I,  monsieur  le  commissaire  !  "  replied  a 
familiar  voice,  while  the  shadow  took  shape, 
emerged  from  the  trees,  stepped  forward  and  gave 
the  military  salute. 

I  then  recognized  one  of  my  own  inspectors, 
whom  I  had  instructed  to  go  the  rounds  of  the 
precincts  of  the  Queens'  chalet  nightly.  He  was 
the  individual  who  had  been  taken  for  "  the 
black  man."  However,  he  seemed  none  the  worse 
for  it. 

4 

When  the  Queen  had  visited  all  the  places  in 
the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  Corbieres 
and  tasted  sufficiently  of  the  pleasure  of  looking 
upon  herself  as  a  new  Little  Red  Riding-hood  in 
her  wild  solitudes,  or  a  new  Sleeping  Beauty 
(whose  Prince  Charming  was  not  to  come  until 
many  years  later),  she  expressed  a  wish  to  go 
on  the  longer  excursions  which  the  country-side 
afforded.  We  therefore  set  out,  one  fine  morning, 
for  the  Abbey  of  Hautecombe,  situated  on  the 
banks  of  the  poetic  Lac  du  Bourget,  which 
inspired  Lamartine  with  one  of  his  most  beautiful 
meditations. 

Although  standing  on  French  territory,  the  old 
abbey  occupied  by  the  Cistercian  monks  con- 
tinues to  belong  to  Italy,  or,  at  least,  remains 
the  property  of  the  royal  house,  by  virtue  of  an 
agreement  made  between  the  two  governments  at 
the  time  of  the  French  annexation  of  Savoy  in 
1860.  It  contains  forty -three  tombs  of  princes 
246 


QUEEN   WILHELMINA 

and  princesses  of  the  House  of  Savoy.  All  the 
ancestors  of  King  Victor  Emanuel,  from  Amadeus 
V.  to  Humbert  III.,  lie  under  the  charge  of  the 
White  Fathers  in  this  ancient  monastery  full  of 
silence  and  majesty.  Their  mausoleums  are 
carved,  for  the  most  part,  by  the  chisels  of  illus- 
trious sculptors ;  they  stand  side  by  side  in  the 
great  nave  of  the  chapel,  which  is  in  the  form  of 
a  Latin  cross,  with  vaults  painted  sky-blue  and 
transepts  peopled  with  upwards  of  three  hundred 
statues  in  Carrara  marble.  These,  crowded  to- 
gether within  that  narrow  fabric,  form  as  it  were 
a  motionless  and  reflective  crowd  watching  over 
the  dead. 

The  visitor  bends  over  the  tombs  and  reads 
the  names  inscribed  upon  them;  and  all  the 
adventurous,  chivalrous,  heroic  and  gallant 
history  of  the  House  of  Savoy  comes  to  life  again. 
Here  lie  Amadeus,  surnamed  the  Red  Count, 
and  Philibert  I.,  the  Hunter;  further  on,  we  come 
to  Maria  Christina  of  Bourbon-Savoy,  Joan  of 
Montfort  and  Boniface  of  Savoy,  the  prince  who 
became  Archbishop  of  Canterbury ;  ^  further  still 
is  the  tomb  of  the  young  and  charming  Yolande 
of  Montferrat,  who  sleeps  beside  her  father, 
Aymon  the  Peaceful.  Lastly,  at  the  entrance 
of  the  church,  in  the  chapel  of  Our  Lady  of  the 
Angels,  stands  the  sarcophagus  of  Charles  Felix 

1  Boniface  of  Savoy  was  nominated  to  the  Archbishopric 
of  Canterbury,  in  1241,  by  King  Henry  III.  of  England,  who 
had  married  Boniface's  niece  Eleanor,  daughter  of  Raymond 
Berengar  Count  of  Provence  and  Beatrix  of  Savoy. — 
Translator^ s  Note, 

247 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

King  of  Sardinia,  who  restored  Hautecombe  in 
1842. 

This  fine  historical  lesson  within  a  monastic 
sanctuary  interested  the  two  Dutch  Queens 
greatly.  It  made  Queen  Wilhelmina  very 
thoughtful,  especially  at  a  given  moment  when 
the  monk  who  acted  as  her  guide  said,  with  a 
touch  of  pride  in  his  voice  : 

"  The  House  of  Savoy  is  a  glorious  house  !  " 

After  a  second's  pause,  the  little  Queen  replied  : 

"  So  is  the  House  of  Orange  !  " 

A  few  days  after  our  excursion  to  Hautecombe, 
we  went  to  visit  the  Cascade  de  Cresy,  a  sort  of 
furious  torrent  in  which  Marshal  Ney's  sister, 
the  Baronne  de  Broc,  was  drowned  in  1818  before 
the  eyes  of  Queen  Hortense,  the  mother  of 
Napoleon  III.  We  also  drove  to  the  Gorges  du 
Fier,  in  which  no  human  being  had  dared  to 
venture  before  1869.  Queen  Wilhelmina,  ever 
eager  for  emotional  impressions,  insisted  on 
penetrating  at  all  costs  through  the  narrow 
passage  that  leads  into  the  gorges.  The  Queen 
Mother  lived  through  minutes  of  agony  that  day, 
although  I  did  my  best  to  persuade  Her  Majesty 
that  her  daughter  was  not  really  incurring  any 
danger.  But  there  is  no  convincing  an  anxious 
mother  ! 

Stimulated  by  these  various  excursions,  the 
little  Queen  said  to  me,  one  morning  : 

"  M.  Paoli,  I  have  formed  a  great  plan.     My 
mother   approves.     I   want   to  go   and   see   the 
Grande  Chartreuse." 
248 


QUEEN   WILHELMINA 

"  That  is  easily  done,"  I  replied,  "  but  it  will 
take  a  whole  day,  for  the  monastery  is  a  good 
distance  from  here." 

*'  Well,  M.  Paoli,  arrange  the  excursion  as  you 
think  best :  with  the  snow  on  the  ground,  it  will  be 
magnificent !  " 

I  wrote  to  the  Father  Superior  to  tell  him  of  the 
Queen's  wish.  He  answered  by  return  that,  to 
his  regret,  he  was  unable  to  open  the  doors  of  the 
monastery  to  women,  even  though  they  were 
queens,  without  the  express  authorization  of  the 
Pope.  And  indeed  I  remembered  that  the  same 
objection  had  arisen  some  years  earlier,  when  I 
wanted  to  take  Queen  Victoria  to  the  Grande 
Chartreuse  :  I  had  to  apply  to  Rome  on  that 
occasion  also. 

I  therefore  hastened  to  communicate  the  answer 
to  General  Du  Monceau,  who  at  once  telegraphed 
to  Cardinal  RampoUa,  at  that  time  Secretary  of 
State  to  the  Holy  See.  Cardinal  Rampolla 
telegraphed  the  same  evening  that  the  Pope 
granted  the  necessary  authority. 

These  diplomatic  preliminaries  gave  an  ad- 
ditional zest  to  our  expedition.  For  it  was  a 
genuine  expedition.  We  left  Aix-les-Bains  at 
eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  by  special  train,  for 
Saint-Beron,  which  was  then  the  terminus  of  the 
railway,  before  entering  the  great  mountain. 
Here,  two  landaus  with  horses  and  postilions 
awaited  us.  The  two  Queens  and  their  ladies 
stepped  into  one  of  the  carriages;  General  Du 
Monceau,  the  officers  of  the  suite  and  I  occupied 

249 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

the  other ;  and  we  started.  It  was  eleven  o'clock 
in  the  morning  and  we  had  a  three-hours'  drive 
before  us.  Notwithstanding  the  intense  cold,  a 
flood  of  sunshine  fell  upon  the  immense  frozen 
and  deserted  mountain-mass  and  lit  up  with  a 
blinding  flame  the  long  sheets  of  snow  that  lay 
stretching  to  the  horizon,  where  they  seemed  to 
be  merged  in  the  deep  blue  of  the  sky.  No  sign 
of  life  appeared  in  that  sea  of  mountains,  amid 
the  throng  of  dissimilar  summits,  some  blunt, 
some  pointed,  but  all  girt  at  their  base  with  huge 
pine-forests.  Only  the  rhythmical  tinkling  of  our 
harness-bells  disturbed  the  deep  silence. 

We  began  to  feel  the  pangs  of  hunger  after  an 
hour's  driving.  I  had  foreseen  that  we  should 
find  no  inn  on  the  road  and  had  taken  care  to  have 
baskets  of  provisions  stored  in  the  boot  of  each 
carriage  at  Saint-Beron. 

"  That's  a  capital  idea,"  said  Queen  Wilhel- 
mina,  "  You  shall  lunch  with  us.  I  will  lay  the 
cloth  !  " 

The  carriages  had  stopped  in  the  middle  of  the 
road,  in  the  vast  solitude,  opposite  the  prodigious 
panorama  of  white  mountains  and  gloomy 
valleys.  The  little  Queen  spread  a  large  table- 
napkin  over  our  knees.  From  the  depths  of  a 
hamper,  she  produced  a  cold  chicken,  rolls  and 
butter  and  solemnly  announced  : 

"  Luncheon  is  served." 

Served  by  a  queen,  in  a  carriage,  on  a  moun- 
tain-top :  that  was  an  incident  lacking  to  my 
collection,  as  King  Alfonso  would  have  said  ! 
250 


QUEEN   WILHELMINA 

I  need  hardly  add  that  this  picturesque  luncheon 
was  extremely  lively  and  that  not  a  vestige  of  it 
remained  when,  at  two  o'clock,  we  approached 
the  Grande  Chartreuse. 

We  caught  sight  first  of  the  square  tower,  then 
of  the  great  slate  roofs,  then  of  the  countless 
steeples,  until,  at  last,  in  the  fold  of  a  valley,  the 
impressive  block  of  buildings  came  into  view,  all 
grey  amid  its  white  setting  and  backed  by  the 
snow-covered  forests  scrambling  to  the  summit 
of  the  Col  de  la  Ruchere.  Perched  amidst  this 
immaculate  steppe,  among  those  spurs  bristling 
with  contorted  and  threatening  rocks,  as  though 
in  some  apocalyptic  landscape,  the  cold,  stern, 
proud  convent  froze  us  with  a  nameless  terror  : 
it  seemed  to  us  as  though  we  had  reached  the 
mysterious  regions  of  a  Wagnerian  Walhalla; 
the  fairy-tale  had  turned  into  a  legend,  through 
which  the  flaxen-haired  figure  of  the  little  Queen 
passed  like  a  light  and  airy  shadow. 

All  the  inhabitants  of  the  monastery  stood 
awaiting  the  Queens  on  the  threshold  of  the  gate- 
way. The  monks  were  grouped  around  their 
superior;  their  white  frocks  mingled  with  the 
depths  of  the  huge  corridor,  the  endless  perspective 
oi  which  showed  through  the  open  door. 

The  father  superior  stepped  forward  to  greet 
the  two  Queens.  Tall  in  stature,  with  the  grace 
of  an  ascetic,  a  pair  of  piercing  eyes,  an  harmoni- 
ous voice  and  a  cold  dignity  combined  with  an 
exquisite  courtesy,  he  had  the  grand  manner  of 
a  well-bred  man  of  the  world  : 

251 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

"  Welcome  to  Your  Majesties,"  he  said,  slowly, 
with  a  bow. 

The  Queens,  a  little  awe-struck,  made  excuses 
for  their  curiosity;  and  the  inspection  began. 
The  monks  led  their  royal  visitors  successively 
through  the  cloister,  the  refectories, the  fine  library, 
which  at  that  time  contained  over  twenty 
thousand  volumes,  and  the  rooms  devoted  to  work 
and  meditation,  each  of  which  bore  the  name  of 
a  country  or  province,  because  formerly  they 
served  as  meeting-places  for  the  priors  of  the 
charter-houses  of  each  of  those  countries  or 
provinces.  They  showed  their  kitchen,  with  its 
table  formed  of  a  block  of  marble  nine  yards 
long  and  its  chimney  of  colossal  proportions. 
They  threw  open  the  great  chapter-house,  decor- 
ated with  twenty-two  portraits  of  the  generals 
of  the  order  from  its  foundation  and  furnished 
with  lofty  stalls,  in  which  the  monks  used  to  come 
and  sit  when,  twice  a  year,  they  held  their  secret 
assembly.  They  showed  their  exiguous  cells, 
with  their  tiled  floors  and  whitewashed  walls, 
each  containing  a  truckle-bed,  a  praying-chair,  a 
table,  a  crucifix,  and  a  window  opening  upon  the 
vast  and  splendid  horizon  of  the  fierce  mountains 
beyond.  Lastly,  they  showed  their  church,  with 
its  Gothic  carvings  surmounted  by  a  statue  of 
death,  and  their  desolate  and  monotonous 
cemetery,  in  which  only  the  graves  of  the  priors 
are  distinguished  by  a  wooden  cross.  But  they 
did  not  show  their  relics  and  their  precious  sacred 
252 


QUEEN    WILHELMINA 

books.  I  expressed  my  astonishment  at  this; 
and  one  of  the  fathers  repUed,  coldly  : 

"  That  is  because  the  Queens  are  heretics.  We 
only  show  them  to  Catholics," 

Queen  Wilhelmina,  who  had  gradually  recovered 
her  assurance,  plied  the  superior  with  questions, 
to  which  he  replied  with  a  perfect  good  grace. 
Wlien,  at  last,  the  walk  through  the  maze  of 
passages  and  cloisters  was  finished,  the  Queen 
hesitated  and  asked  : 

"  And  the  chartreuse  ?  Don't  you  make  that 
here  ?  " 

"  Certainly,  Ma'am,"  said  the  prior,  "  but  we 
did  not  think  that  our  distillery  could  interest 
Your  Majesty." 

"  Oh,  but  it  does  !  "  answered  the  Queen,  with  a 
smile.     "  I  want  to  see  everything." 

We  were  then  taken  to  the  "  Mill,"  situated  at 
an  hour's  distance  from,  the  monastery,  where 
the  Carthusians,  with  their  sleeves  turned  back, 
prepared  the  delicious  liqueur  the  secret  of  which 
they  have  now  taken  with  them  in  their  exile. 
The  Queens  put  their  lips  to  a  glass  of  yellow 
elixir  offered  to  them  by  the  superior  and  accepted 
a  few  bottles  as  a  present.  The  visit  had 
interested  them  prodigiously. 

Half-an-hour  later, we  had  left  the  monastery  far 
behind  us  in  its  stately  solitude  and  were  driving 
down  the  other  slope  of  the  mountain  to  Grenoble, 
where  we  were  to  find  a  special  train  to  take  us 
back  to  Aix-les-Bains.     When  we  approached  the 

253 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

old  Dauphine  capital,  the  day  had  turned  into  a 
night  of  black  and  icy  darkness;  in  front  of  us, 
in  the  depths  of  the  valley,  all  the  lamps  of  the 
great  town  displayed  their  thousands  of  twinkling 
lights ;  and  Queen  Wilhelmina  kept  on  exclaim- 
ing : 

"  How  beautiful  !     How  delighted  I  am  !  " 
She  was  not  so  well  pleased — nor  was  I — when, 
at  the  gate  of  the  town,   we  saw  cyclists  who 
appeared  to  be  on  the  look-out  for  the  carriages 
and  who  darted  off  as  scouts  before  our  landaus, 
as  soon  as  they  perceived  us.     These  mysterious 
proceedings  puzzled  me  all  the  more  inasmuch  as 
I  had  taken  care  not  to  inform  the  authorities  of 
Grenoble  that  the  Queens  intended  to  pass  through 
their  city,  knowing  as  I  did,  on  the  one  hand,  that 
the  municipal  council  was  composed  of  socialists, 
and,  on  the  other,  that  Their  Majesties  wished  to 
preserve    the    strictest    incognito.     But    I    had 
reckoned  without  the  involuntary  indiscretion  of 
the  railway-staff,  who  had  allowed  the  fact  to 
leak  out  that  a  special  train  had  been  ordered 
for  the  sovereigns ;  and,  as  no  one  is  more  anxious 
to  receive  a  smile  from  royalty  than  the  stern, 
uncompromising  adherents  of  Messrs.  Jaures  & 
Co.,  the  first  arm  that  was  respectfully  put  out 
to  assist  Queen  Wilhelmina  to  alight  from  the 
carriage  was  that  of    the  socialist  senator  who, 
that  year,   was  serving  as  mayor   of  Grenoble. 
He  was  all  honey ;  he  had  prepared  a  speech ;  he 
had  provided  a  band.     Willy-nilly,   we  had  to 

submit  to  an  official  reception.     True,  we  were 
254 


QUEEN   WILHELMINA 

amply  compensated,  as  the  train  steamed  out 
of  the  station,  by  hearing  cries  of  "  Long  Hve  the 
Queens  !  "  issuing  from  the  throats  of  men  who 
spent  the  rest  of  the  year  in  shouting,  "  Down 
with  tyrants  !  " 

Such   is  the   eternal   comedy   of   politics   and 
mankind  ! 


The  Queens'  stay  at  the  Corbieres  was  drawing 
to  a  close.  We  had  exhausted  all  the  walks  and 
excursions;  the  cold  was  becoming  daily  more 
intense ;  the  icy  wind  whistled  louder  than  ever 
under  the  ill-fitting  doors.  At  the  royal  chUlet, 
the  little  Queen  was  growing  tired  of  sketching 
young  herds  with  their  flocks  or  old  peasant- 
women  combing  wool.  One  morning,  General  Du 
Monceau  said  to  me  : 

"  Their  Majesties  have  decided  to  go  to  Italy. 
They  will  start  for  Milan  the  day  after  to-morrow." 

Two  days  later,  I  parted  from  them  at  the 
frontier ;   and,  as  I  was  taking  leave  of  them  : 

"  We  shall  meet  again,"  said  Queen  Wilhelmina, 
"  I  am  longing  to  see  Paris." 

She  did  not  realize  her  wish  until  two  years 
later.  It  was  in  the  spring  of  1898 — a  year  made 
memorable  in  her  life  because  it  marked  her 
political  majority  and  the  commencement  of  her 
real  reign — ^that,  accompanied  by  her  mother,  she 
paid  her  first  visit  to  Paris  on  her  way  to  Cannes 
for  the  wedding  of  Prince  Christian  of  Denmark 

255 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

(the    present    Crown-prince)    and    the    Grand- 
duchess  Mary  of  Mecklenburg- Strelitz. 

"  Do  you  remember  the  day  when  we  went  to 
the  Grande  Chartreuse  ?  "  were  her  first  words  on 
seeing  me. 

She  still  had  her  bright,  childish  glance,  but  she 
now  wore  her  pretty  hair  done  up  high,  as  befitted 
her  age,  and  her  figure  had  filled  out  in  a  way 
that  seemed  to  accentuate  her  radiant  air  of 
youth. 

Anecdotes  were  told  of  her  playfulness  that 
contrasted  strangely  with  her  sedate  appearance. 
Chief  among  them  was  the  well-known  story 
according  to  which  she  loved  to  tease  her  English 
governess.  Miss  Saxton  Winter  ;  all  Holland  had 
heard  how,  one  day,  when  drawing  a  map  of 
Europe,  she  amused  herself  by  enlarging  the 
frontiers  of  the  Netherlands  out  of  all  proportion 
and  considerably  reducing  the  limits  of  Great 
Britain.  Another  story  was  that,  having  regret- 
fully failed  to  induce  the  postal  authorities  to  alter 
her  portrait  on  the  Dutch  stamps,  which  still 
represented  her  as  a  little  girl,  with  her  hair 
down,  she  never  omitted  with  her  own  pen  to 
correct  the  postage-stamps  which  she  used  for 
her  private  correspondence ! 

These  childish  ways  did  not  prevent  her  from 
manifesting  a  keen  interest  in  poetry  and  art. 
Her  favourite  reading  was  represented  by  Sir 
Walter  Scott  and  Alexandre  Dumas  the  Elder; 
but  she  also  read  books  on  history  and  painting 
with  the  greatest  pleasure.  She  had  acquired  a 
256 


QUEEN   WILHELMINA 

remarkable  erudition  on  these  subjects  in  the 
course  of  her  studies,  as  I  had  occasion  to  learn 
during  our  visits  to  the  museums,  especially  the 
Louvre.  She  was  as  familiar  with  the  Italian  and 
French  schools  of  painting  as  with  the  Dutch  and 
Flemish,  although  she  maintained  a  preference 
for  Rembrandt  : 

"  I  should  like  him  to  have  a  statue  in  every 
town  in  Holland  !  "  she  said. 

I  need  hardly  say  that  the  artistic  treasures  of 
Paris  did  not  absorb  her  attention  to  the  extent 
of  causing  her  to  disregard  the  attractions  and 
temptations  which  our  capital  offers  to  the 
curiosity  of  a  young  and  elegant  woman  who 
does  not  scorn  the  fascination  of  dress.  Queen 
Wilhelmina  used  to  go  into  ecstasies  over  the 
beauty  and  luxury  of  our  shops;  and  Queen 
Emma  had  the  greatest  difficulty  in  dragging  her 
from  the  windows  of  the  tradesmen  in  the  Rue 
Royale  and  the  Rue  de  la  Paix.  It  nearly 
always  ended  with  a  visit  to  the  shop  and  the 
making  of  numerous  purchases. 

The  little  Queen  won  the  affection  of  all  with 
whom  she  came  into  contact  by  her  simplicity, 
her  frankness  and  the  charming  innocence  with 
which  she  indulged  in  the  sheer  delight  of  living. 
Although  possessed  of  an  easy  and  ready  power 
of  admiration,  she  remained  Dutch  at  heart  and 
professed  a  proud  and  exclusive  patriotism. 

*'  I    can    understand,"    said    President    Felix 

Faure  to  me,  on  the  day  after  the  visit  which  he 

paid  to  the  two  Queens,  "  that  the  Dutch  nation 

8  257 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

shows  an  exemplary  loyalty  to  Queen  Wilhelmina : 
it  recognizes  itself  in  her." 

Indeed,  nowhere  is  the  sovereign  more  securely 
installed  than  in  Holland,  nor  does  the  work  of 
government  proceed  anywhere  more  smoothly. 
In  Holland,  constitutional  rule  performs  its 
functions  automatically,  while  the  budget 
balances  regularly,  year  by  year,  thanks  to  the 
profitable  colonies  and  trade.  Happy  country ! 
What  other  State  can  say  as  much  to-day  ? 

A  week  after  their  arrival  in  Paris,  the  two 
Queens  left  for  Cannes.  I  had  been  called  south 
by  my  service  in  waiting  on  Queen  Victoria,  who 
had  just  gone  to  Cannes  herself,  and  I  was  obliged 
to  leave  a  few  days  before  Their  Majesties.  But 
I  met  them  again  at  the  Danish  wedding;  and 
I  saw  Queen  Wilhelmina  for  the  last  time  shortly 
before  her  departure  for  Holland.  It  was  in  the 
late  afternoon,  at  the  moment  when  the  sun 
was  on  the  point  of  disappearing  behind  the 
palm-trees  in  the  garden  of  the  hotel  where  the 
Queen  of  England  had  taken  up  her  residence. 
Queen  Wilhelmina  had  come  to  say  good-bye  : 
she  was  standing  in  an  attitude  of  timid  deference 
before  the  old  sovereign  seated  in  her  bath-chair. 
Both  Queens  were  smiling  and  talking  merrily. 
Then  Wilhelmina  stooped,  kissed  Queen  Victoria 
on  the  forehead  and  tripped  away  lightly  in  the 
golden  rays  of  the  setting  sun. 

She  has  not  returned  to  France  since  then. 


258 


CHAPTER   IX 

THE    LATE    KING    OF   THE    BELGIANS 


Of  all  the  sovereigns  with  whom  I  have  been 
connected  in  the  course  of  my  career,  Leopold  II. 
is  perhaps  the  one  whom  I  knew  best,  with  the 
circumstances  of  whose  private  life  I  was  most 
intimately  acquainted,  and  whose  thoughts  and 
soul  I  was,  nevertheless,  least  able  to  fathom, 
for  the  simple  reason  that  his  thoughts  were 
impenetrable  and  his  soul  ever  closed.  Was 
this  due  to  excessive  egotism  or  supreme  in- 
difference ?  To  both,  perhaps.  He  was  as 
baffling  as  a  puzzle,  carried  banter  occasionally 
to  the  verge  of  insolence  and  cynicism  to  that 
of  cruelty;  and,  if,  at  times,  he  yielded  to  fits 
of  noisy  gaiety,  if,  from  behind  the  rough 
exterior,  there  sometimes  shot  an  impulse  of 
unexpected  kindness,  these  were  but  passing 
gleams.  He  promptly  recovered  his  wonderful 
self-control;  and  those  about  him  were  too 
greatly  fascinated  by  his  intelligence  to  seek  to 
understand  his  habit  of  mind  or  heart.  And  yet, 
though  fascinating,  he  was  as  uncommunicative 
as  it  is  possible  to  be ;  he  possessed  none  of  those 
external  attractions  of  the  intellect  which  capti- 
8  2  259 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

vate  and  charm;  but,  whenever  he  deigned  to 
grant  you  the  honour  of  an  interview,  however 
brief,  you  at  once  discovered  in  him  a  prodigious 
brain,  a  luminous  perspicacity  and  critical  powers 
of  amazing  subtlety  and  keenness. 

No  sovereign  used — and  abused — all  the  springs 
of  his  physical  and  moral  activity  to  a  greater 
extent  than  did  Leopold  II.  to  his  dying  day. 
An  everlasting  traveller,  passing  without  cessa- 
tion from  a  motor-car  into  a  train,  from  a  train 
on  to  a  boat,  caring  little  for  the  delights  of  sleep, 
he  worked  continuously,  whether  in  the  presence 
of  some  fine  view,  or  at  sea,  or  at  meals,  or  in  the 
train,  or  in  his  hotel,  or  on  a  walk ;  the  place  and 
the  hour  mattered  to  him  but  little. 

*'  Monsieur  I'officier,  take  down  !  "  he  would 
say  to  his  equerry,  at  the  most  unexpected 
moment. 

And  "  monsieur  I'officier  " — his  only  form  of 
address  for  the  officers  of  his  suite — drew  out  a 
note-book,  seized  a  pencil  and  took  down,  "by 
way  of  memorandum,"  to  the  slow,  precise  and 
certain  dictation  of  the  King,  the  wording  of  a 
letter,  a  report  or  a  scheme  relating  to  the 
multifarious  operations  in  which  Leopold  II. 
was  interested.  Contrary  to  the  majority  of 
monarchs,  who  take  with  them  on  their  holidays 
a  regular  arsenal  of  papers  and  a  very  library  of 
records,  Leopold  carried  in  the  way  of  reference 
books  nothing  but  a  little  English-French 
dictionary,  which  he  slipped  into  the  pocket  of 
his  overcoat  and  consulted  for  the  purpose  of  the 
260 


THK    I.ATK    KlXi;   OF   THE    HELGIAXS, 


[P(ii;V  260. 


THE   LATE   KING   OF   THE   BELGIANS 

voluminous  correspondence  which  he  conducted 
in  connection  with  Congo  affairs  : 

"  It  is  no  use  my  knowing  EngHsh  thoroughly," 
he  confessed  to  me,  one  day.  "Those  British 
officials  sometimes  employ  phrases  of  which  I 
do  not  always  grasp  the  full  meaning  and  scope. 
I  must  fish  out  my  lexicon  !  " 

On  the  other  hand,  he  needed  no  assistance 
to  work  out  his  complicated  and  gigantic 
financial  combinations.  He  possessed,  if  I  may 
say  so,  the  bump  of  figures.  For  hours  at  a  time, 
he  would  indulge  in  intricate  calculations;  and 
his  accounts  never  showed  a  hesitation  or  an 
erasure.  In  the  same  way,  when  abroad,  he 
treated  affairs  of  State  with  a  like  lucidity.  If 
he  thought  it  useful  to  consult  a  specialist  in 
certain  matters,  he  would  send  for  him  to  come 
to  where  he  was,  question  him  and  send  him  away, 
often  after  teaching  the  expert  a  good  many 
things  about  his  own  profession  which  he  did  not 
know  before.  And  the  King  thereupon  made  up 
his  mind  in  the  full  exercise  of  his  independent 
and  sovereign  will  : 

"  My  ministers,"  he  would  say,  with  that 
jeering  air  of  his,  "  are  often  idiots.  But  they 
can  afford  the  luxury :  they  have  only  to  do  as 
I  tell  them." 

Leopold  II.  did  not  always,  however,  take  this 
view  of  the  constitutional  monarchy.  For  in- 
stance, a  few  months  before  his  death,  one  of  his 
ministers  was  reading  a  report  to  him  in  the 
presence    of    the    heir    presumptive — now    King 

261 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

Albert — when  the  wind,  blowing  through  the 
open  window  of  the  royal  writing-room,  sent  a 
bundle  of  papers,  on  the  King's  desk,  flying 
over  the  carpet.  The  minister  was  rushing 
forward  to  pick  them  up,  when  the  King  caught 
him  by  the  sleeve  and,  turning  to  his  nephew, 
said  : 

"  Pick  them  up  yourself." 

And,  when  the  minister  protested  : 

"  Leave  him  alone,"  whispered  Leopold.  "  A 
future  constitutional  sovereign  must  learn  to 
stoop  !  " 

An  autocrat  in  his  actions,  he  affected  to  be  a 
democrat  in  his  principles. 

It  matters  little  whether  his  methods  were 
reprehensible  or  not  :  history  will  say  that 
Leopold  II.  was  to  Belgium  the  artisan  of  an 
unequalled  prosperity,  although  it  is  true  that 
he  was  nearly  always  absent  from  his  country. 
The  fact  is  that  he  loved  France  at  least  as  well 
as  Belgium.  He  loved  the  Riviera  and,  above 
all,  he  loved  the  capital.  He  had  the  greatest 
difficulty  in  dragging  his  white  beard  away  from 
the  Paris  radius;  and,  when,  by  chance,  it  was 
eclipsed  for  a  week  or  two,  it  continued  to  figure 
in  the  magazines,  in  the  illustrated  and  comic 
papers  and  on  the  posters  that  advertised  cheap 
tailors,  tonic  pills  or  recuperative  nostrums. 

Leopold  11. ,  therefore,  was  a  Parisian  person- 
ality in  the  full  glory  of  the  word.  True,  he 
never  achieved  the  air  of  elegance  that  dis- 
tinguished Edward  VII.  You  would  have  looked 
262 


THE   LATE   KING   OF   THE   BELGIANS 

for  him  in  vain  on  the  balcony  of  the  club,  on  the 
asphalt  of  the  boulevards,  in  a  stage-box  at  the 
theatre,  in  the  paddock  at  Longchamp.  But, 
should  you  happen  to  meet  in  the  Tuileries 
Gardens,  in  the  old  streets  of  the  Latin  Quarter, 
or,  more  likely  still,  along  the  quays  a  man 
wrapped  in  a  long  dark  ulster,  wearing  a  pair  of 
goloshes  over  his  enormous  boots  and  a  black 
bowler  on  his  head,  carrying  in  his  hand  an 
umbrella  that  had  seen  better  days  and  under  his 
arm  a  bundle  of  yellow-backed  books  or  a  knick- 
knack  of  some  sort  packed  up  anyhow  in  a  news- 
paper ;  should  you  catch  sight  of  a  lean  and  lanky 
Ghent  burgess  rooted  in  silent  contemplation  of 
the  front  of  the  Louvre,  or  the  porch  of  Saint- 
Germain-l'Auxerrois,  or  the  gates  of  the  ficole  des 
Beaux- Arts ;  should  you  perceive  him  haggling  for 
a  musty  old  tome  at  the  corner  of  the  Pont  des 
Saints-Peres  and  counting  the  money  twice  over 
before  paying,  then  you  could  safely  go  home 
and  say  : 

"  I  have  seen  the  King  of  the  Belgians." 
I  often  accompanied  him  on  these  strolls,  in  the 
course  of  which  the  artist  and  book-lover  that 
lay  hidden  in  him  found  many  an  occasion  for 
secret  and  silent  joys;  for  the  King,  who  hated 
music,  who  bored  himself  at  the  theatre,  and  who 
despised  every  manifestation  of  the  art  of  to-day, 
had  a  real  passion  for  old  pictures,  fine  architec- 
ture, rare  curiosities  and  .  .  .  flowers. 

''  Monsieur  le  commissaire,"    he  would  often 

say,  with  his  fondness  for  official  titles,  in  his 

263 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

strong  Belgian  accent,  "  we  will  go  for  an  excur- 
sion to-day  with  monsieur  I'officier." 

And  the  "  excursion  "  nearly  always  ended  by 
taking  us  to  some  old  curiosity-shop,  or  to  the 
Musee  Carnavalet,  or  to  the  flower-market  on 
the  Quai  de  la  Tournelle. 

In  the  later  years  of  his  life,  however,  he  had  to 
give  up  his  walks  in  town  :  he  was  attacked  by 
sciatica,  which  stiffened  his  left  leg  and  prevented 
him  from  walking  except  with  the  aid  of  two 
sticks  or  leaning  on  his  secretary's  arm. 

So  familiar  a  figure  did  he  become  that  he  was 
ridiculed  in  the  music-halls  and  in  the  scandal- 
mongering  press;  caricatures  of  him  were  dis- 
played in  all  the  newsvendors'  windows.  This 
stupid  and  sometimes  spiteful  interest  in  his 
movements  was  a  positive  affliction  to  him.  We 
did  our  best,  of  course,  to  prevent  his  seeing  the 
satirical  drawings  in  which  he  figured  in  attitudes 
unbecoming  to  the  dignity  of  a  king ;  but  we  did 
not  always  succeed.  Fortunately,  his  sense  of 
humour  exceeded  any  annoyance  which  he  may 
have  felt.  Remembering  that  he  possessed  an 
astonishing  double  in  the  person  of  an  old  Parisian 
called  M.  Mabille,  he  never  failed  to  exclaim 
when,  by  some  unlucky  chance,  his  ey>es  fell  upon 
a  caricature  of  his  royal  features  : 

''  There,  they're  teasing  that  unfortunate  M. 
Mabille  again  I  And  how  like  me  he  is  I  Lord, 
how  like  me  he  is  !  " 

His  habit  of  icy  chaff  made  one  feel  perpetually 
264 


THE   LATE   KING  OF   THE   BELGIANS 

ill  at  ease  when  he  happened  to  be  in  a  conver- 
sational vein.  One  never  knew  if  he  was  serious 
or  joking.  This  tall,  rough-hewn  old  man  had 
a  trick  of  stinging  repartee  under  an  outward 
appearance  of  innocent  good-nature,  and,  better 
than  any  one  that  I  have  ever  met,  understood 
the  delicate  art  of  teaching  a  lesson  to  those  who 
ventured  upon  an  unseemly  familiarity  in  his 
presence. 

One  evening,  at  a  reception  which  he  was  giving 
to  the  authorities  in  his  chalet  at  Ostend,  the 
venerable  rector  of  the  parish  came  up  to  him 
with  an  air  of  concern  and,  drawing  him  respect- 
fully aside,  said  : 

"  Sir,  •!  feel  profoundly  grieved.  There  is  a 
rumour,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  that  Your  Majesty's 
private  life  is  not  marked  by  the  austerity  suited 
to  the  lofty  and  difficult  task  which  the  Lord 
has  laid  upon  the  monarchs  of  this  earth.  Re- 
member, Sir,  that  it  behoves  kings  to  set  an 
example  to  their  subjects." 

And  the  worthy  rector,  taking  courage  from 
the  fact  that  he  had  known  Leopold  II.  for  thirty 
years,  preached  him  a  long  sermon.  The  peni- 
tent, adopting  an  air  of  contrition,  listened  to  the 
homily  without  moving  a  muscle.  When,  at 
last,  the  priest  had  exhausted  his  eloquence  : 

"  What   a   funny  thing,   monsieur  le   cure  !  '* 

murmured  the  King,  fixing  him  with  that  cold 

glance  of   his  from  under   his  wrinkled   eyelids. 

"  Do  you  know,  people  have  told  me  exactly  the 

265 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

same  thing  about  you  !  .  .  .  Only  I  refused  to 
believe  it,  you  know  !  "  ^ 

That  was  a  delicious  sally,  too,  in  which  he 
indulged  at  the  expense  of  a  certain  Brazilian 
minister  who  was  paying  his  first  visit  to  court, 
and  who  appeared  to  be  under  the  impression 
that  the  King  was  hard  of  hearing.  At  any  rate, 
he  made  the  most  extraordinary  efforts  to  speak 
loud  and  to  pronounce  his  words  distinctly. 
The  King  maintained  an  impassive  countenance, 
but  ended  by  interrupting  him  : 

"  Excuse  me,  monsieur  le  ministre,"  he  said, 
with  an  exquisite  smile.  "  I'm  not  deaf,  you 
know :   it's  my  brother  !  " 

Picture  the  diplomatist's  face  !  • 

Lastly,  let  me  recall  his  caustic  reply  to  one  of 
our  most  uncompromising  radical  deputies  who 
was  being  received  in  audience,  and  who,  falling 
under  the  spell  of  King  Leopold's  obvious 
intelligence,  said  to  him,  point-blank  : 

"  Sir,  I  am  a  republican.  I  do  not  hold  with 
monarchies  and  kings.  Nevertheless,  I  recognize 
your  great  superiority  and  I  confess  that  you 
would  make  an  admirable  president  of  a 
republic  !  " 

"  Really  ?  "  replied  the  King,  with  his  most 
ingenuous  air.  "  Really  ?  Do  you  know,  I 
think  I  shall  pay  a  compliment  in  your  style  to 
my  physician.  Dr.  Thirier,  who  is  coming  to  see 

^  The   late   King  of  the   Belgians  shared  the   national 
peculiarity  of  interlarding  his  French  with  a  succession  of 
savez-vous. — Translator'' s  Note. 
266 


THE   LATE   KING  OF  THE   BELGIANS 

me  presently.  I  shall  say,  '  Thirier,  you  are 
a  great  doctor  and  I  think  you  would  make  an 
excellent  veterinary  surgeon  !  '  " 

The  poor  opinion  which  he  entertained  of  the 
republic,  as  this  story  would  appear  to  show, 
did  not  prevent  him  from  treating  it  with  the 
greatest  respect.  Of  all  the  foreign  sovereigns, 
Leopold  II.  was  certainly  the  one  who  kept  up 
the  most  cordial  relations  with  our  successive 
presidents.  At  each  of  his  visits  to  Paris,  he 
never  failed  to  go  to  the  filysee.  He  called  as  a 
neighbour,  as  a  friend,  without  even  announcing 
his  visit  beforehand.  When  M.  Fallieres  was 
elected  president  at  the  Versailles  congress,  the 
first  visit  which  he  received,  on  his  return  to  the 
Senate,  where  he  was  then  living,  was  that  of 
Leopold  II. 

Nevertheless,  whatever  personal  sympathy  he 
may  have  felt  for  France,  the  King  of  the  Belgians 
always  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  sentimental  con- 
siderations ;  and  there  is  no  reason  why  we  should 
ascribe  to  such  considerations  the  very  marked 
courtesy  which  he  showed  to  the  official  republi- 
can world.  In  my  opinion,  this  attitude  is  due 
to  several  causes.  In  the  first  place,  he  reckoned 
that  France  was  a  useful  factor  in  the  develop- 
ment of  Belgian  prosperity,  and  that  it  was  wise 
to  increase  the  economic  links  that  united  the 
two  countries.  On  the  other  hand,  what  would 
have  become  of  his  colonial  enterprise  in  the 
Congo,  if  France  had  taken  sides  with  England, 
which  was  displaying  a  violent  hostility  against 

267 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

him  ?  Lastly,  this  paradoxical  monarch,  who 
always  governed  through  Catholic  ministries  at 
home,  because  that  was  the  wish  expressed  by  the 
majority  of  votes,  was,  I  firmly  believe,  a  free- 
thinker at  heart  and  was  pleased  to  find  that  our 
rulers  entertained  views  which  corresponded  with 
his  own  secret  tendencies. 

The  fact  is  that  Leopold  II.  looked  at  every- 
thing from  two  points  of  view  :  that  of  practical 
reality  and  that  of  his  own  selfishness.  The 
King  had  in  his  veins  the  blood  of  the  Coburgs 
mixed  with  that  of  the  d'Orleans,  two  highly 
intelligent  families,  but  utterly  devoid  of  senti- 
ment or  sensibility;  and  he  treated  life  as  an 
equation  which  it  was  his  business  to  solve  by 
any  methods,  no  matter  which,  so  long  as  the 
result  corresponded  with  that  which  he  had 
assigned  to  it  beforehand. 

He  had  an  extraordinarily  observant  mind, 
was  marvellously  familiar  with  the  character 
of  his  people,  its  weaknesses  and  its  vanities,  and 
played  upon  these  with  the  firm,  yet  delicate 
touch  of  a  pianist  who  feels  himself  to  be  a 
perfect  master  of  his  instrument  and  of  its 
effects.  His  cleverness  as  a  constitutional  sove- 
reign consisted  in  appearing  to  follow  the  move- 
ments of  public  opinion,  whereas,  in  reality,  he 
directed  and  sometimes  even  provoked  them. 

Thus,  in  1884,  when  the  violent  reaction  of 
the  Catholics  against  the  anti-clerical  policy  of 
M.  Frere-Orban  culminated  in  the  return  of  the 
conservatives  to  power,  one  might  have  thought 
268 


THE  LATE   KING   OF   THE   BELGIANS 

that  the  crown,  which  until  then  had  supported 
the  hberal  poUcy  and  favoured  the  secularization 
of  the  scliools,   would  find  itself  in  a  curiously 
difficult  position,  and  that  the  check  administered 
to   M.    Frere-Orban   would   amount   to   a   check 
administered  to  the  King  himself.      Not  at  all. 
Leopold  IL,  sheltering  himself  behind  his  duties 
as  a  constitutional  sovereign,  became,  from  one 
day   to   the   next,    as   firm   a   supporter   of   the 
Catholic  party  as  he  had  been,  till  then,  of  the 
liberals.     Nay  more,  I  have  learnt  since  that  he 
had  a  hand  in  the  change  of  attitude  on  the  part 
of  parliament  and  the  nation.     As  I  have  hinted 
above,  his  personal  sympathies  lay  on  the  side 
of  the  liberal  party;    but,  with  the  perspicacity 
that  was  all  his  own,  he  was  not  slow  in  per- 
ceiving the  spectre  of  budding  socialism  which 
was  beginning  to  loom  behind  Voltairean  liberal- 
ism.    He  suspected  its  dangers;    and  he  did  not 
hesitate  to  give  a  sudden  turn  to  the  right  to  the 
ship  of  State  of  which  he  looked  upon  himself 
as  the  responsible  pilot.     And  this  position  he 
maintained  until  the  end  of  his  days,  without,  for 
a    moment,    laying    aside    any    of    his    personal 
preferences. 


My  first  meeting  with  Leopold  II.  dates  back 
to  1896.  The  King  had  gone  to  the  Riviera, 
accompanied  by  his  charming  daughter,  Princess 
C16mentine,  now  Princess  Napoleon,  who,  from 
that  time  onward,  filled  in  relation  to  her  father 

269 


MY  ROYAL    CLIENTS 

the  part  of  the  Antigone  of  a  tempestuous  old 
age.  I  shall  never  forget  my  surprise  when  the 
King,  who  had  made  the  long  rail  way- journey 
from  Brussels  to  Nice  without  a  stop,  said  to  his 
chamberlain.  Baron  Snoy,  as  they  left  the 
station  : 

"  Send  away  the  carriage,  monsieur  le  cham- 
bellan.  We'll  go  to  the  hotel  on  foot.  I  want 
to  stretch  my  legs  a  bit !  " 

We  walked  down  the  Avenue  Thiers,  followed 
by  an  inconvenient  little  crowd  of  inquisitive 
people.  Just  as  we  were  about  to  cross  a  street, 
a  landau  drove  up  and  obliged  us  to  step  back 
to  the  pavement.  As  it  passed  us,  the  King 
solemnly  took  off  his  hat  :  he  had  recognized 
Queen  Victoria  sitting  in  the  carriage  and 
api^arently  astounded  at  this  unexpected  meeting. 
When  we  reached  the  Place  Massena,  again 
the  King's  hat  flew  off  :  this  time  it  was  the 
Dowager  Empress  of  Russia  entering  a  shop. 

"  The  place  seems  crammed  with  sovereigns," 
he  said,  with  his  mocking  air.  "  Whom  am  I 
going  to  meet  next,  I  wonder  ?  " 

I  saw  little  of  him  during  this  first  short  stay 
which  he  made  at  Nice,  for  I  was  at  that  time 
attached  to  the  person  of  the  Queen  of  England 
and  had  to  transfer  the  duty  of  protecting  King 
Leopold  to  one  of  my  colleagues.  I  used  to 
meet  him  occasionally — always  on  foot — on  the 
Cimiez  road ;  I  would  also  see  him,  in  the  after- 
noon,  taking    tea    at    Rumpelmayer's  with  his 

two   daughters,   the  Princesses  Clementine  and 
270 


THE  LATE  KING  OF  THE  BELGIANS 

Louise,  and  his  son-in-law,  Prince  Philip  of  Saxe- 
Coburg-Gotha. 

These  family-meetings  around  a  five  o'clock  tea- 
table  marked  the  last  auspicious  days  of  peace, 
which  was  more  apparent  than  real,  among  those 
illustrious  personages.  When  Leopold  II.  returned 
to  the  Riviera,  two  years  later,  he  had  quarrelled, 
in  the  meanwhile,  with  his  daughter  Louise,  who 
herself  had  quarrelled  with  her  husband ;  he  had 
ceased  to  see  his  daughter  Stephanie,  who  had 
married  Count  Lonyay;  and  he  met  his  wife. 
Queen  Marie-Henriette,  as  seldom  as  he  possibly 
could.  Princess  Clementine  was  the  only  one  who 
still  found  favour  with  this  masterful  old  man, 
who  was  so  hard  upon  others  and  so  indulgent  to 
himself;  and  she  continued,  with  admirable  de- 
votion and  self-abnegation,  to  surround  him  with 
solicitous  care  and  to  accompany  him  wherever 
he  went. 

I  never  met  a  more  smiling  resignation  than 
that  of  this  princess,  who  took  a  noble  pride 
in  the  performance  of  her  duty.  Nothing  was 
able  to  discourage  her  in  the  fulfilment  of  her 
filial  mission  :  not  the  rebuffs  and  caprices  which 
she  encountered  on  her  father's  side,  nor  the 
frequently  delicate  and  sometimes  humiliating 
positions  which  he  forced  upon  her,  nor  even 
the  persistency  with  which,  until  his  dying  day, 
he  thwarted  the  secret  inclinations  of  her 
heart. 

It  has  been  said  that  at  one  time  he  thought 
of  giving  her  the  Prince  of  Naples — now  King  of 

271 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

Italy — for  a  husband,  and  that  he  abandoned  the 
idea  in  consequence  of  the  stubborn  opposition 
which  the  plan  encountered  on  the  part  of  exalted 
political  personages.  I  do  not  know  if  he  ever 
entertained  this  plan;  on  the  other  hand,  I  feel 
pretty  sure  that,  some  years  ago,  he  would  have 
liked  the  Count  of  Turin  for  a  son-in-law,  and 
that  negotiations  were  opened  to  this  effect 
with  the  Italian  court.  But  the  most  invincible 
of  arguments — the  only  one  that  had  not  been 
taken  into  account — was  at  once  opposed  to  this 
project  :  the  princess's  affections  were  engaged 
elsewhere.  She  loved  Prince  Victor  Napoleon 
and  had  resolved  that  she  would  never  marry 
another  man.  Of  course  I  was  not  present  at 
the  scene  which  the  plain  expression  of  this  wish 
provoked  between  father  and  daughter;  but  I 
understand  that  it  was  of  a  violent  character. 
From  that  day,  the  prince's  name  was  never 
mentioned  between  them.  The  princess  con- 
tinued, as  in  the  past,  to  fill  the  part  of  an 
attentive  and  devoted  daughter;  she  continued 
scrupulously  to  perform  her  duties  as  "  the 
little  Queen,"  as  the  Belgians  called  her  after 
1904,  the  year  of  her  mother's  death,  when  she 
began  to  take  Marie-Henriette's  place  at  public 
functions;  she  continued  to  succour  the  poor 
and  nurse  the  sick  with  greater  solicitude  than 
ever;  and  she  was  seen,  as  before,  driving  her 
pony-chaise  in  the  Bois  de  la  Cambre.  Only,  in 
the  privacy  of  her  boudoir,  the  moment  she  had 
a  little  time  to  herself,  slie  would  immerse  her- 
272 


PRIXCKSS   VICTOk    XAI'OI.EOX    (PRIXCKSS   Cl.KM  KXTI XK    OF    HKLCIUM). 

[Page-  272. 


THE  LATE  KING  OF  THE  BELGIANS 

self  in  the  study  of  historical  memoirs  of  the 
Napoleonic  period. 

To  tell  the  truth,  I  believe  that,  if  Prince  Victor 
had  not  possessed  the  grave  fault,  in  Leopold's 
eyes,  of  being  a  pretender  to  the  French  throne, 
the  King  would  have  ended  by  giving  to  the 
daughter  whom  he  adored  the  consent  for  which 
she  vainly  entreated  during  six  long  years.  But 
the  King  was  an  exceedingly  selfish  man ;  he  was 
eager,  for  the  reasons  explained  above,  to  preserve 
good  relations  with  the  French  Republic;  and 
he  refused  at  any  price  to  admit  the  heir  of  the 
Bonapartes  into  his  family.  The  result  was  that 
he  ended  by  conceiving  against  the  prince  the 
violent  antipathy  which  he  felt  for  any  person 
who  stood  in  his  way  and  interfered  with 
his  calculations.  I  remember  realizing  this  one 
morning  at  the  station  at  Bale,  where  I  had  gone 
to  meet  him.  The  King  was  waiting  on  the 
platform  for  the  Brussels  train,  when  I  suddenly 
caught  sight  of  Prince  Victor  leaving  the  refresh- 
ment-room. I  thought  it  my  duty  to  tell  the 
King. 

"  Oh,  indeed  !  "  he  said.  "  Let's  go  and  look 
at  the  engines." 

And  he  strode  away. 

Can  it  have  been  because  he  was  sure  of 
meeting  neither  Prince  Victor  nor  the  members  of 
his  own  family  on  the  Riviera  that  he  resolved,  at 
the  end  of  his  life,  to  fix  one  of  his  chief  residences 
in  the  south  of  France  ?  I  will  not  go  so  far  as 
that.  I  am  more  inclined  to  believe  that  the 
T  273 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

old  King,  who  was  a  passionate  lover  of  sunshine, 
flowers  and  freedom,  found  in  that  charming  and 
easy-going  country  the  environment  most  in 
harmony  with  his  moods  and  tastes. 

As  early  as  1898,  he  resolved  to  lay  out  for 
himself  a  paradise  in  the  wonderful  property, 
known  as  Passable,  which  he  had  purchased  near 
Nice,  with  its  gardens  sloping  down  to  the  Gulf 
of  Villefranche.  He  devoted  all  his  horticultural 
and  architectural  knowledge,  all  his  sense  of  the 
beautiful  and  picturesque,  to  its  embellishment. 
Tiberius  achieved  no  greater  success  at  Capri. 
Year  after  year,  he  enlarged  it,  for  he  had  a 
mania  for  building  and  pulling  down.  He  also 
had  the  soul  of  a  speculator.  None  knew 
better  than  he  how  to  bargain  for  a  piece  of 
land;  he  would  bully,  threaten  and  intimidate 
the  other  side  until  he  invariably  won  the  day. 
Thereupon  he  used  to  indulge  in  childish 
delight  : 

"  It's  all  right,"  he  would  say,  with  a  great  fat 
chuckle.  "  I  have  done  a  capital  stroke  of 
business  !  " 

And  I  am  bound  to  admit  that  he  spared  neither 
time  nor  energy  when  he  scented  what  he  called 
"  a  capital  stroke  of  business."  I  can  still  see  him, 
one  afternoon,  leaving  M.  Waldeck-Rousseau's 
villa  at  the  Cap  d'Antibes,  near  Cannes,  where 
he  had  gone  to  pay  the  prime  minister  a  visit,  and 
perceiving,  on  the  road  leading  to  the  station,  a 
magnificent  walled-in  park  that  looked  as  if  it 
were  abandoned. 
274 


THE   LATE   KING   OF   THE   BELGIANS 

"  Who    owns    that    property  ?  "     he    asked 
suddenly. 

"  An  EngHshman,  Sir,  who  never  comes  near 
it." 

"  We  have  time  to  look  over  it,"  said  the 
King,  "  before  the  train  leaves  for  Nice.  Some- 
body  fetch  the  gardener  !  " 

The  gardener  was  not  to  be  found,  but  the  gate 
was  open.  Leopold  II.  walked  in  without  hesita- 
tion, followed  by  Baron  Snoy,  my  colleague, 
M.  Olivi,  and  myself,  hurried  along  the  deserted 
paths  and  praised  the  beauty  of  the  vegetation; 
but,  when  it  became  time  to  go,  we  discovered,  to 
our  dismay,  that  some  one  had  locked  the  gate 
while  we  were  inside.  There  was  no  key,  no 
possibility  of  opening  it.  We  called  and  shouted 
in  vain.  Nobody  appeared.  The  train  was  due 
before  long ;  the  King  began  to  grow  impatient. 
What  were  we  to  do  ?  Olivi  had  a  flash  of 
genius.  He  ran  to  a  shed,  the  roof  of  which 
showed  above  the  nearest  thicket,  and  returned 
with  a  ladder  : 

"  If  Your  Majesty  does  not  mind,  you  will  be 
able  to  get  over  the  wall." 

The  King  accepted  impassively  and  the  ascent 
began.  Baron  Snoy  went  up  first,  then  I ;  and  the 
King,  in  his  turn,  climbed  the  rungs,  supported 
by  Olivi.  Baron  Snoy  and  I,  perched  on  the 
top  of  the  wall,  hoisted  the  King  after  us.  We 
were  joined  by  Olivi;  and  then  a  dreadful  thing 
happened  :  the  ladder  swayed  and  fell  !  There 
we  were,  all  four  of  us,  astride  the  wall,  swinging 
T2  275 


MY  ROYAL    CLIENTS 

our  legs,  without  any  means  of  getting  down  on 
the  other  side^ 

"  We  look  like  burglars,"  said  the  King,  with  a 
forced  laugh. 

There  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  jump.  The 
distance  from  the  top  of  the  wall  to  the 
roadside  slope  was  not  great;  and  Baron  Snoy, 
Olivi  and  I  succeeded  in  falling  on  our  feet  without 
great  difficulty.  The  King,  however,  who  limped 
in  one  leg  and  lacked  agility,  could  not  think  of  it. 

Then  Olivi,  who  certainly  proved  himself  a 
most  resourceful  man  that  day,  solved  the  prob- 
lem. He  suggested  that  the  King  should  climb 
down  upon  our  shoulders.  The  King  accord- 
ingly let  himself  slide  on  to  the  shoulders  of 
Baron  Snoy,  who  passed  him  on  to  Olivi's  back, 
while  I  caught  hold  of  his  long  legs  and  deposited 
his  huge  feet  safely  on  the  ground  ! 

Some  years  later,  seeing  Olivi  at  the  station  at 
Nice  : 

"  I  remember  you,  M.  Olivi,"  said  Leopold  II. 
"  You  took  part  in  our  great  gymnastic  display 
at  Antibes." 

"  I  did.  Sir." 

"  Well,  do  you  know,  M.  Olivi,  there  is  no  need 
for  me  to  climb  the  wall  now.  I  have  the  key; 
the  property  is  mine." 

The  whole  man  is  pictured  in  this  anecdote. 
Even  as  he  gave  numberless  signs  of  avarice 
and  meanness  in  the  material  details  of  life,  so  he 
displayed  an  almost  alarming  extravagance  once 
it  became  a  question  of  satisfying  a  whim, 
276 


THE   LATE   KING   OF   THE   BELGIANS 

although  he  would  carefully  calculate  the  advan- 
tages of  any  such  whim  beforehand.  And  to 
increase  the  number  of  his  landed  properties 
was  with  him  a  genuine  monomania,  a  sort  of 
methodical  madness. 

At  the  bottom  of  his  character  lay  certain 
precepts  which  belonged  to  the  great  middle  class 
of  1840,  and  which  had  survived  from  the  middle- 
class  education  imparted  to  him  in  his  youth. 
It  was  thus  that  he  was  brought  to  think  that  the 
amount  of  a  man's  wealth  is  to  be  measured  by 
the  amount  of  real  estate  which  he  possesses. 
He  fought  shy  of  stocks  and  shares,  because  of  the 
frequent  fluctuations  to  which  they  are  subjected. 
On  the  other  hand,  he  felt  a  constant  satisfaction 
— I  was  almost  saying  a  rapturous  delight — in  the 
acquisition  of  land,  in  turning  his  cash  into  acres 
of  soil  and  investing  his  fortune  in  marble  or  bricks 
and  mortar,  because  he  looked  upon  these  as 
more  solid  and  lasting. 

It  goes  without  saying  that,  during  his  long 
visits  to  the  south,  he  escaped  as  much  of  the 
official  and  social  drudgery  as  he  could.  He  saw 
very  little  of  his  illustrious  cousins  staying  on  the 
Riviera;  avoided  dinners  and  garden-parties; 
and,  when  not  at  work,  spent  his  time  in  long  and 
interminable  walks,  or  else  went  and  sat  on  a 
bench  in  some  public  garden  or  by  the  sea,  and 
there  steeped  himself  in  his  reflections.  Some- 
times, when  he  was  in  a  hurry  to  get  back,  he 
would  take  the  tram  or  hail  a  fly,  always  picking 

out  the  oldest  and  shabbiest, 

277 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

One  day,  at  his  wish,  I  beckoned  to  a  driver  on 
the  rank  at  Nice. 

"  No,  no,  not  that  one,"  he  said.  "  Call  the 
other  man,  over  there  :  the  one  with  the  horse 
that  looks  half -dead." 

"  But  the  carriage  seems  very  dirty,  Sir,"  I 
ventured  to  remark. 

"  Just  so  :  as  he  drives  such  an  uninviting 
conveyance,  he  must  be  doing  bad  business ;  we 
must  try  and  help  him." 

Leopold  II.  had  a  knack  of  performing  these 
sudden  and  unexpected  acts  of  kindness. 

He  was  a  sceptic  to  the  verge  of  indifference 
and  yet  entertained  odd  antipathies  and  aversions. 
For  instance,  he  hated  the  piano  and  was  terrified 
of  a  cold  in  the  head.  Whenever  he  had  to  select 
a  new  aide-de-camp,  he  always  began  by  asking 
two  questions  : 

"  Do  you  play  the  piano  ?  Do  you  catch  cold 
easily  ?  " 

If  the  officer  replied  in  the  negative,  the  King 
said,  "  That's  all  right,"  and  the  aide-de-camp 
was  appointed;  but,  if,  by  ill-luck,  the  poor 
fellow  returned  an  evasive  answer,  his  doom  was 
told  :   he  went  straight  back  to  his  regiment. 

This  inexplicable  dread  of  the  corizza  had 
attained  such  proportions  that,  during  the  last 
years  of  the  King's  life,  the  people  about  him — 
including  the  ladies — discovered  a  simple  and 
ingenious  expedient  for  obtaining  a  day's  leave 
when  they  wanted  it  :  they  simply  sneezed  with- 
out stopping.  At  the  third  explosion,  the  old 
278 


THE   LATE   KING   OF   THE   BELGIANS 

sovereign  gave  a  suspicious  look  at  the  sneezer 
and  said  : 

"  I  sha'n't  want  you  to-day." 

And  the  trick  was  done. 

He  had  his  idiosyncrasies,  Hke  most  mortals. 
For  instance,  he  used  to  have  four  buckets  of 
sea-water  dashed  over  his  body  every  morning, 
by  way  of  a  bath ;  he  expected  partridges  to  be 
served  at  his  meals  all  the  year  round;  and  he 
had  his  newspapers  ironed  like  pocket-handker- 
chiefs before  reading  them  :  he  could  not  endure 
anything  like  a  fold  or  crease  in  them.  Lastly, 
when  addressing  the  servants,  he  always  spoke 
of  himself  in  the  third  person.  Thus  he  would 
say  to  his  chauffeur,  "  Wait  for  ^?'m,"  instead  of 
"  Wait  for  m^."  Those  new  to  his  service,  who 
had  not  been  warned,  were  puzzled  to  know  what 
mysterious  person  he  referred  to. 

A  strange  eccentric,  you  will  say.  No  doubt; 
although  these  oddities  are  difficult  to  under- 
stand in  the  case  of  a  man  who  displayed  the 
most  practical  mind,  the  most  lucid  intelligence 
and  the  shrewdest  head  for  business,  the  moment 
he  was  brought  face  to  face  with  the  facts  of 
daily  life.  But,  I  repeat,  to  those  who  knew  him 
best  he  appeared  in  the  light  of  a  constant  and 
bewildering  puzzle ;  and  this  was  shown  not  only 
in  the  peculiarity  of  his  manners,  but  in  the 
incongruity  of  his  sentiments.  How  are  we  to 
explain  why  this  King  should  feel  an  infinite 
love  for  children,  this  stern  King  who  was  so  hard 
and  sometimes  so  cruel  in  his  treatment  of  those 

2T9 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

to  whom  by  rights  he  ought  never  to  have  closed 
his  heart  nor  refused  his  indulgence  ?     Yet  the 
tall  old  man  worshipped  the  little  ones.     They 
were  almost  the  only  creatures  whose  greetings 
he  returned;    and  he  would  go  carefully  out  of 
his  way,   when  strolling  along  a  beach,  rather 
than  spoil  their  sand-castles.     How  are  we  to 
explain    the    deep-seated,    intense    and    jealous 
delight    which    he,    so    insensible   to   the    softer 
emotions  of  mankind,   felt  at  the  sight  of  the 
fragile  beauty  of  a  rare  flower  ?     How  are  we 
to   explain   why   he  reserved  the   kindness   and 
gentleness  which  he  so  harshly  refused  to  his  wife 
and   daughters   for   his   unfortunate   sister,    the 
Empress   Charlotte,   whose  mysterious   madness 
had  kept  her  for  forty-two  years  a  lonely  prisoner 
within  the  high  walls  of  the  Chateau  de  Bou- 
chout  ?     And  yet,  every  morning  of  those  forty- 
two  years,  he  never  failed,  when  at  Laeken,  to 
go  alone  across  the  park  to  that  silent  dwelling 
and  spend  two  hours  in  solitary  converse  with  the 
tragic  widow.     Each  da}^  with  motherly  solici- 
tude, he  personally  supervised  the  smallest  details 
of  that  shattered  existence. 


The  King  never  allowed  any  outsider  to  inter- 
fere in  his  affairs,  whether  public  or  private.  He 
discussed  none  of  his  schemes  before  it  was  com- 
pleted and  before  he  had  drawn  up  his  plan  of 
execution  down  to  the  minutest  details  : 
280 


THE   LATE   KING   OF   THE   BELGIANS 

'*  It  shall  be  so,"  he  used  to  declare;  and  no 
one  ever  dreamt  of  opposing  his  will  so  plainly 
expressed. 

It  was  in  this  way  that  he  conducted  his 
enormous  Congo  enterprise  entirely  by  himself. 
The  different  phases  of  this  business  are  too  well 
known  for  me  to  recapitulate  them  here.  One 
of  them,  however — the  first  phase — has  been  very 
seldom  discussed  and  deserves  to  be  recalled,  for 
it  throws  a  great  light  not  only  upon  the  King's 
conceptive  genius,  but  also  upon  his  diplomatic 
astuteness  and  his  amazing  cynicism. 

In  1884,  Leopold  IL,  who  had  for  years  been 
obsessed  by  the  longing  to  lay  hands  upon  the 
Congo  territory,  promoted  an  international  con- 
ference in  order  to  spoil  the  West- African  treaty 
which  had  lately  been  concluded  between  Great 
Britain  and  Portugal,  and  which  hindered  the 
realization    of    his    secret    ambitions.     He    now 
conceived    the    subtle    and    intelligent    idea    of 
inducing   the   congress   to   proclaim    the   Congo 
an    independent     State,     with    himself    as     its 
recognized  sovereign. 

There  was  only  one  person  in  Europe  possessed 
of  sufficient  authority  to  bring  about  the  adoption 
of  this  daring  plan;  and  that  was  Bismarck. 
Bismarck  was  the  necessary  instrument;  but 
how  was  he  to  be  persuaded  ?  Faced  with  this 
difficulty,  Leopold  II.  hit  upon  the  idea  of  send- 
ing to  Berlin  a  journalist,  whom  he  knew  to  be  a 
clever  and  talented  man,  with  instructions  to  cap- 
ture the  Iron  Chancellor's  confidence.     Leopold 

281 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

coached  this  journaHst,  a  gentleman  of  the  name 
of  Gantier,  to  such  good  purpose  that,  as  the 
result  of  a  campaign  directed  from  Brussels 
by  the  King  himself,  M.  Gantier  managed 
within  a  few  months  to  insinuate  himself  into 
Bismarck's  immediate  surroundings,  to  interest 
him  in  the  Congo  question,  and  to  prove  to  him 
that  Germany  would  derive  incomparable  benefits 
from  proclaiming  the  independence  of  the  Congo 
and  entrusting  its  administration  to  a  neutral 
sovereign  like  the  King  of  the  Belgians. 

The  stratagem  was  successful  from  start  to 
finish.  The  Congress  of  Berlin,  on  the  motion 
of  the  chancellor,  proclaimed  the  Congo  an  in- 
dependent territory  with  Leopold  II.  for  its 
sovereign.  We  know  the  result  :  the  Congo  is 
at  this  day  a  Belgian  colony.  Leopold,  in  a 
word,  had  "  dished  "  Prince  Bismarck. 

Unfortunately  for  the  King's  memory,  whereas 
the  masterly  fashion  in  which  he  succeeded  in 
forcing  the  hand  of  Europe  in  this  matter  is 
bound  to  meet  with  unreserved  praise,  history 
will  be  less  inclined  to  congratulate  him  upon 
the  means  which  he  employed  to  impose  his 
sovereign  authority  and  his  colonizing  schemes 
upon  the  Congo. 

I  will  not  take  upon  myself  either  to  justify 
or  to  criticize  his  policy  in  the  "  Free  State."  It 
is  a  question  outside  my  province.  Neverthe- 
less, I  consider  that  I  am  in  duty  bound  to  tell 
what  I  know  about  the  matter  with  the  impar- 
tiality of  a  chronicler  who  has  confined  himself 
382 


THE   LATE   KING   OF   THE   BELGIANS 

to  hearing  and  observing  the  things  that  were 
said  and  done  around  him. 

I  was  with  the  King  at  the  time,  following  upon 
the  revelations  of  the  missionaries,  when  the 
campaign  was  started  in  England  against  the 
atrocities  committed  by  the  Belgian  authorities 
in  the  Congo.  He  affected  an  attitude  of  the 
most  utter  indifference  to  these  attacks.  I  knew, 
however,  that  they  bothered  him  and  caused  him 
a  certain  uneasiness,  because  of  the  prejudice 
which  they  might  rouse  against  his  enterprise. 

While  he  refrained  from  communicating  his 
impressions  to  me,  he  opened  his  mind  to  certain 
political  personages  whom  he  honoured  with  his 
confidence  : 

"  When  a  man  has  accepted  the  task  of 
civilizing  a  country,"  he  would  say  to  them, 
"  and  has  devoted  his  intelligence,  his  work  and 
his  fortune  to  it,  as  I  have  done,  surely  he  is 
entitled  to  some  credit." 

It  was  a  poor  argument,  I  admit,  in  reply  to 
the  terrible  accusations  which  had  been  hurled 
against  the  administration  of  the  Congo. 

To  tell  the  truth,  Leopold  11.  made  no  en- 
deavour to  defend  himself.  When  his  represent- 
atives in  the  Congo  Free  State  were  reproached 
with  employing  Draconian  measures,  tending 
towards  the  gradual  extermination  of  the  natives, 
his  answer  was  that  these  methods  were  indis- 
pensable in  dealing  with  a  race  which  refused 
to  allow  the  wealth  of  its  country  to  be 
developed,  and  which  offered  a  systematic  oppo- 

283 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

sition,  in  every  conceivable  way,  to  the  work 
of  civilization  !  And  the  King  would  quote 
precedents  in  favour  of  his  theory.  Thus,  one 
day,  he  said  to  a  French  journalist  who  was 
interviewing  him  on  the  subject : 

"  The  Americans  are  uniting  with  the  English 
in  accusing  me  of  cruelty  to  the  natives  of  the 
Congo,  all  because  I  consider  it  expedient  to 
reduce  them  to  impotence  and  because  I  wish  to 
throw  open  to  civilization  their  magnificent 
territories,  which  have  remained  uncultivated  far 
too  long.  Now  I  am  only  following  the  example 
of  the  Americans  themselves,  when  they  gradually 
expelled  the  Indians  from  the  United  States,  and 
of  the  English,  when  they  made  themselves 
masters  of  India." 

Leopold  II.,  as  the  reader  sees,  made  no 
attempt  to  meet  the  accusations  with  a  positive 
denial  :  he  simply  sought  to  explain  his  methods. 
The  fact  is  that,  as  I  have  said  before,  he  was 
inaccessible  to  humanitarian  considerations  in 
matters  of  politics.  He  kept  his  eyes  fixed 
exclusively  on  the  object  which  he  proposed  to 
attain  :  the  means,  as  long  as  they  were  effective, 
left  him  indifferent. 

Is  this  equal  to  saying  that  he  approved  of  all 
that  was  done  in  his  name  ?  I  do  not  think  so. 
The  measures  which  he  had  enacted  gave 
the  Belgian  concessionaries  the  right  to  exact 
labour  from  the  natives  without  remuneration, 
thus  instituting  a  sort   of  slavery,  and  granted 

unlimited  powers  to  the    officials.      They  were 

284 


THE   LATE   KING   OF  THE   BELGIANS 

necessarily  bound  to  lead  to  intolerable  abuses, 
abuses  also  prompted,  in  the  case  of  both  officials 
and  concessionaries,  by  the  fear  of  solitude  and 
by  the  intoxication  that  results  from  the  exercise 
of  absolute  power.  Nevertheless,  I  must  add,  in 
defence  of  the  King,  that  it  was  difhcult,  if  not 
impossible,  for  him  to  know  precisely  what  acts 
were  being  committed  in  the  Congo  in  his  name. 
The  impartial  elements  which  were  indispensable, 
if  he  was  to  be  kept  informed  with  exactitude, 
were  entirely  lacking.  The  English  reports, 
which  he  was  naturally  inclined  to  charge  with 
exaggeration,  were  contradicted  by  the  Belgian 
reports  submitted  to  him,  which  evidently  ex- 
tenuated facts  of  which  they  were  not  able  to 
deny  the  reality. 

The  reproach  that  might  be  levelled  against 
him  with  the  greatest  amount  of  justice  was  that 
he  did  not  at  the  very  outset  appoint  the  com- 
mittee of  enquiry  whose  conclusions,  as  everybody 
knows,  recognized  the  necessity  of  immediate 
reforms  in  the  administration  of  the  Congo.  But 
Leopold  II.,  as  I  have  said,  did  not  believe  in 
advice  or  advisers.  He  had  to  feel  threatened 
in  his  security  before  he  would  consent  to  allow 
any  outside  interference  in  this  matter  of  the 
Congo,  which  he  looked  upon  as  a  purely  personal 
matter. 

As  he  drew  nearer  the  tomb,  his  worries  and 
activities  increased.  It  was  as  though  he  had 
received  a  mysterious  warning  to  tell  him  that 
his  years  were  now  numbered  and  that  he  must 

285 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

hasten  the  reahzation  of  his  numerous  and 
immense  schemes.  Apart  from  his  work  on  the 
Congo,  which  was  violently  attacked  both  by  poli- 
ticians of  all  parties  abroad  and  by  the  opposition 
at  home,  his  other  vast  undertakings  also  became 
the  object  of  fierce  criticism  on  the  part  of  his 
adversaries,  who  considered  that  he  was  neglect- 
ing the  political  evolution  of  the  country  in  order 
to  devote  himself  entirely  to  his  plans  for  trans- 
forming the  town  of  Brussels.  He  was  so  well 
aware  of  this  state  of  opinion  that,  when  the 
burgomaster  of  the  capital,  his  friend  and  fellow- 
worker  M.  Mott,  came  to  congratulate  the  King 
on  his  last  birthday,  Leopold  said  : 

"  Let  us  hope  that  I  shall  have  time  to  com- 
plete my  work." 

"  Why  not.  Sir  ?  "  replied  M.  Mott.  "  You 
and  I  are  of  the  same  age ;  and  you  are  stronger 
and  haler  than  I  am." 

"  Never  mind,  monsieur  le  bourgmestre  : 
remember  that,  when  one  of  us  closes  his  eyes, 
the  other  will  have  to  keep  his  open  !  " 

It  was  written,  in  fact,  that  Leopold  II.  should 
be  called  away  before  fully  realizing  his  colossal 
dreams  and  settling  his  intricate  personal  affairs. 
He  was  working  up  to  the  very  moment  of  his 
death;  as  everybody  knows,  his  mind  remained 
clear  to  the  end,  nor  did  his  hostility  towards  his 
family  waver  for  an  instant.  He  died  as  he  had 
lived,  inaccessible,  haughty  and  sceptical. 


286 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  ENGLISH  ROYAL  FAMILY 


While  compiling  these  recollections,  I  have 
more  than  once  had  occasion,  in  passing,  to 
mention  different  "  faces  "  belonging  to  the  Royal 
Family  of  England.  They  occur  at  most  of  the 
sovereign  courts ;  for  it  was  no  empty  phrase  that 
used  to  describe  Queen  Victoria  as  "  the  grand- 
mother of  Europe."  There  was  never  a  truer 
saying.  Even  as,  in  whichever  direction  beyond- 
seas  we  turn  our  eyes,  we  behold  the  British 
flag  waving  in  the  breeze,  in  the  same  way,  if 
we  study  the  pedigree  of  any  royal  house,  we 
are  almost  always  certain  to  discover  an  English 
alliance. 

The  long  years  which  I  spent  in  the  service  of 
Queen  Victoria  and  the  confidence  with  which 
she  honoured  me  by  admitting  me  to  her  intimacy 
enabled  me  to  become  acquainted  with  several 
members  of  that  large,  united  and  gracious 
family;  and  I  am  bound  to  say  that  not  one  of 
them  has  forgotten  me.  They  all  deign  to  give 
me  a  little  corner  in  the  memories  of  their  child- 
hood and  youth;  they  are  good  enough  to  re- 
member that,  in  the  old  days,  when  they  came  to 
Nice,  Aix,  Biarritz  or  Cannes  to  pay  their  duty 

287 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

to  their  grandmother  and  to  bring  her  the 
youthful  tribute  of  their  smiles,  there  was 
always,  in  the  old-fashioned  landau  that  carried 
the  good  Queen  along  the  country  roads,  or 
walking  beside  her  donkey-chair,  somebody  who 
shared  the  general  gaiety  and  whom  the  Queen 
treated  with  affectionate  kindness.  That  "  some- 
body" was  myself. 

I  thus  had  the  honour  of  seeing  King  George  V., 
when  he  was  still  wearing  the  modest  uniform 
of  a  naval  lieutenant,  and,  later,  of  knowing 
Queen  Mary,  when  she  was  only  Duchess  of 
York  and  Cornwall.  And  I  hope  that  she  will 
permit  me,  in  this  connection,  to  recall  an  inci- 
dent that  diverted  Queen  Victoria's  little  circle 
for  a  whole  evening.  It  happened  during  a  visit 
which  the  Duchess  of  York  was  paying  to  the 
Queen  at  Nice.  I  had  informed  the  venerable 
sovereign  that  the  "  ladies  of  the  fishmarket  " — 
one  of  the  oldest  corporations  at  Nice — wished 
to  offer  her  some  flowers;  and  the  Queen  asked 
the  Duchess  of  York  to  receive  them  in  her  stead 
and  to  express  her  sincere  thanks  for  their  kind 
wishes. 

The  good  women  handed  the  Duchess  their 
bouquets ;  and  I  then  saw  that  they  were  shy  and 
at  a  loss  what  to  do  or  say  next.  So  I  whispered 
to  them : 

"  Go   and   kiss   that   gentleman   over   there," 
pointing    to    Colonel    Carrington,    the    Queen's 
equerry.     "  That  is  by  far  the  best  speech  that 
you  could  make  !  " 
288 


THE  ENGLISH  ROYAL  FAMILY 

The  ladies  evidently  approved  of  my  suggestion, 
for  they  forthwith,  one  and  all,  flung  themselves 
upon  the  colonel's  neck ;  and  he,  though  flurried 
and  a  little  annoyed,  had  to  submit  with  the  best 
grace  possible  to  this  volley  of  kisses  under  the 
eyes  of  the  princess,  who  laughed  till  the  tears  ran 
down  her  cheeks. 

When  I  apologized  to  him  afterwards  for  the 
abominable  trick  which  I  had  played  him  : 

"  Ah,"  he  sighed,  "  if  only  they  had  been  good- 
looking!  " 

The  fact  is  that  none  of  the  ladies  evoked 
the  most  distant  memories  of  the  Venus  of 
Milo  ! 

Thanks  to  the  recollections  of  those  bygone 
years,  of  which  any  number  of  charming  and 
amusing  stories  could  be  told,  I  was  no  stranger 
to  the  Duke  and  Duchess  of  York,  when,  after 
the  accession  of  King  Edward  VII.,  they  were 
raised  to  the  title  of  Prince  and  Princess  of  Wales 
and  travelled  across  France,  under  my  protection, 
on  their  way  to  Brindisi,  where  they  were  going 
to  take  ship  for  India. 

"  I  will  present  you  to  the  prince  myself,"  said 
Princess  May,  with  exquisite  and  simple  kindliness, 
when  she  saw  me  waiting  for  them  in  the  railway- 
station  at  Calais.  And  she  continued,  "  George, 
this  is  M.  Paoli  :  you  remember  him,  don't 
you  ?  " 

"  I  remember,"  said  the  prince,  giving  me  his 

hand,   "  how  much  my  grandmother  liked  you 

and  the  affection  which  she  showed  you.     I  need 
u  289 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

hardly  say  that  we  feel  just  the  same  to  you 
ourselves." 

I  could  not  have  hoped  for  a  more  cordial 
welcome  from  the  prince  whose  features  bore  so 
striking  a  resemblance  to  those  of  the  Emperor  of 
Russia,  whom  I  had  just  left. 

This  journey  was  a  particularly  pleasant  one 
for  me,  as  it  enabled  me  to  forgather  once  more 
with  an  old  and  faithful  friend  in  the  person  of 
the  prince's  secretary,  of  whom  I  had  seen  a  great 
deal  at  the  time  when  he  was  private  secretary  to 
Queen  Victoria,  and  who  now  occupies  the  same 
position  under  King  George  V. :  I  refer  to  Sir 
Arthur  Bigge,  now  Lord  Stamfordham. 

Sir  Arthur  belongs  to  that  race  of  servants  of 
the  monarchy  whose  zeal  and  devotion  cease  only 
with  their  death.  He  had  a  curious  adventure 
at  the  time  of  the  interview  between  Queen 
Victoria  and  the  late  M.  Felix  Faure  at  Noisy- 
le-Sec.  The  story  has  never  been  told  before; 
and  I  have  no  hesitation  in  publishing  it, 
because  it  does  great  credit  to  the  generosity  of 
feeling  of  the  then  President  of  the  Republic. 

The  Queen  was  on  her  way  to  Nice,  that  year, 
and  had  expressed  a  wish  to  meet  M.  Felix  Faure, 
whom  she  did  not  know.  The  interview  was 
arranged  to  take  place  during  the  stop  of  the  royal 
train  at  Noisy  Junction;  and  it  had  acquired  a 
certain  solemnity  owing  to  the  political  circum- 
stances of  the  moment.  We  began  by  witnessing 
a  long  private  conversation  between  the  Queen 
and  the  President  through  the  windows  of  the 
2D0 


THE  ENGLISH  ROYAL  FAMILY 

royal  saloon-carriage,  after  which,  in  accordance 
with  the  usual  etiquette,  they  presented  the 
members  of  their  respective  suites.  When  it 
came  to  Colonel  Bigge's  turn,  the  Queen  said  to 
M.  Faure,  without  the  least  idea  of  mischief: 

"  My  private  secretary.  Sir  Arthur  Bigge,  who 
enjoys  all  my  confidence  and  all  my  esteem. 
Besides,  I  expect  you  know  his  name  :  it  was  he 
who  accompanied  the  Empress  Eugenie  on  her 
sad  pilgrimage  to  Zululand  and  helped  her  to 
recover  the  body  of  her  poor  son." 

The  President  bowed,  without  moving  a  muscle 
of  his  face  or  uttering  a  word;  and  Sir  Arthur, 
greatly  embarrassed  by  the  terms  of  the  present- 
ation, thought  the  best  thing  to  do  was  to  lie  low 
and  keep  out  of  the  way.  How  great,  therefore, 
was  his  surprise  when,  after  everybody  had  been 
presented,  he  heard  his  name  called  by  M.  Felix 
Faure. 

"  What  can  he  want  with  me  ?  "  he  asked, 
rather  uneasily. 

As  soon  as  they  were  alone,  the  President  said 
to  him,  point-blank : 

*'  As  a  Frenchman,  I  wished  to  thank  you  for 
the  devotion  which  you  have  shown  to  one  of  our 
fellow-countrywomen  in  circumstances  so  terrible 
for  her.  You  behaved  like  a  man  of  heart.  I 
congratulate  you." 

M.    Faure   had   the   knack   of   enhancing   the 

character  of  his  office  and  winning  the  respectful 

sympathy    of    foreigners    by    happy    flashes    of 

inspiration  of  this  kind. 

u2  291 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

But  I  am  wandering  from  my  subject.  To 
return  to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  the  cordiahty  of  the 
reception  which  he  gave  me  at  Calais  promised 
me  a  charming  journey.  In  point  of  fact,  I  was 
able,  during  the  run  across  France,  to  perceive 
how  fond  both  the  prince  and  princess  were  of 
simplicity  and  gaiety.  They  were  evidently 
delighted  to  be  going  to  India,  although  the 
princess  could  not  accustom  herself  to  the  idea  of 
leaving  her  children.  As  for  the  prince,  he  was 
revelling  beforehand  in  the  length  of  the  voyage : 

*'  One  never  feels  really  alive  except  on  board 
ship,"  he  said  to  me.  "  What  do  you  think, 
M.  Paoli  ?  " 

"  I  think.  Sir,"  I  rephed,  "  that  I  must  ask 
Your  Royal  Highness  to  allow  me  to  differ. 
When  I  am  on  board  ship,  I  sometimes  feel  more 
like  dying." 

"  You're  not  the  only  one,"  he  retorted,  with  a 
side-glance  at  one  of  his  equerries,  who  stood 
without  wincing. 

The  prince  liked  teasing  people;  but  his  chaff 
was  never  cruel  and  he  accompanied  it  with  so 
much  kindness  that  there  was  no  question  of 
taking  offence  at  it.  At  heart,  the  prince  had 
remained  the  middle  that  he  once  was,  a  "  good 
sort,"  full  of  fun,  full  of  "go,"  fond  of  laughing 
and  interested  in  everything. 

We  chatted  in  the  train  until  very  late  at  night, 
for  I  did  not  leave  the  prince  until  we  reached 
Modane,  the  station  on  the  Italian  frontier  where 

my  service  ended. 
292 


THE  ENGLISH  ROYAL  FAMILY 


I  saw  him  next  at  the  Queen  of  Spain's  wedding, 
and  again  in  1908.  The  prince  and  princess  had 
just  spent  a  week  in  Paris,  for  the  first  time  in 
their  hves,  and  were  returning  to  England 
dehghted  with  their  stay.  The  special  train  had 
hardly  left  the  Gare  du  Nord,  when  the  Hon. 
Derek  Keppel,  who  was  with  the  prince,  came  to 
me  in  my  compartment : 

"  M.  Paoli,"  he  said,  "  I  am  commanded  by 
Their  Royal  Highnesses  to  ask  you  to  give  them 
the  pleasure  of  your  company  to  luncheon." 

I  at  once  went  to  the  royal  saloon.  The  prince 
was  chatting  with  M.  Hua,  his  sons'  French  tutor, 
a  very  agreeable  and  scholarly  man,  whom  he 
treated  as  a  friend;  the  princess  was  talking  to 
Lady  Eva  Dugdale,  her  lady-in-waiting.  It 
goes  without  saying  that  the  conversation  was 
all  about  Paris  and  the  impressions  which  the 
prince  and  princess  had  received  from  their 
trips  to  Versailles,  Chantilly,  Fontainebleau  and 
Chartres. 

"  I  can  understand  my  father's  admiration  and 
affection  for  France,"  said  the  prince  to  me.  ''  It 
is  a  magnificent  country  and  an  interesting  people. 
I  am  glad  that  the  entente  cordiale  has  strengthened 
the  bonds  of  friendship  between  the  two  nations. 
I  must  come  and  see  you  oftener." 

While  the  prince  was  saying  these  pleasant 
things,  I  was  surprised  to  observe  his  valet 
depositing  two  apparently  very  heavy  hampers 

293 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

on  the  floor  in  the  middle  of  the  carriage ;  but  my 
astonishment  was  still  greater  when  I  saw  the 
princess  herself  open  one  of  the  hampers  and  take 
out  a  table-cloth,  plates,  a  chicken,  tumblers — in 
short,  a  complete  lunch. 

"  By  the  way,"  said  the  prince,  "  I  forgot  to 
tell  you,  there's  no  restaurant-car  in  the  train, 
so  we  shall  have  a  picnic  here.  It  will  be  much 
better  fun  !  " 

And  it  was.  The  man  put  out  two  folding- 
tables  which  were  in  the  carriage;  and  then,  at 
the  princess's  suggestion,  we  all  helped  to  lay  the 
cloth  !  One  looked  after  the  plates,  another  the 
glasses,  a  third  the  knives  and  forks,  while  the 
princess  herself  carved  the  cold  fowl. 

When  everything  was  at  last  ready,  we  sat  down 
around  this  makeshift  luncheon-table  and,  with 
a  splendid  will,  did  justice  to  our  meal,  which, 
I  may  say,  was  excellent.  The  proprietor  of 
the  Hotel  Bristol,  who  had  packed  the  ham- 
pers, had  had  the  happy  thought  of  adding  a 
couple  of  bottles  of  champagne;  and  these  were 
the  cause  of  an  incident  that  crowned  the  gaiety 
of  this  merry  lunch.  The  prince  declared  that 
he  would  open  them  himself.  Asking  for  the  first 
bottle,  he  prepared  to  draw  the  cork  with  a  thou- 
sand cunning  precautions ;  but  he  certainly  failed 
to  reckon  with  the  extraordinary  impatience  of 
that  accursed  cork,  which  was  no  sooner  freed  of 
its  restraining  bonds  than  it  escaped  from  the 
prince's  hands  and  went  off  like  a  pistol-shot, 
while  the  wine  drenched  the  princess's  dress. 
294 


THE  ENGLISH  ROYAL  FAMILY 

The  prince  was  very  sorry,  but  the  princess  laughed 
the  thing  off  and  declared  that  "  it  didn't 
stain."  She  had  her  skirt  wiped  down  at  once 
with  water;  and  the  luncheon  finished  as  gaily 
as  it  began. 

As  I  was  taking  leave  of  her  on  board  the  ship 
that  was  to  convey  the  illustrious  travellers  from 
Calais  to  Dover : 

"  Do  come  and  see  us  in  England,"  she  said. 
''  I  should  like  to  show  you  my  children  :  you 
have  never  met  them." 

"  Madam,"  I  replied,  "  I  would  do  so  with 
pleasure,  if  my  duties  allowed  me  to  take  a  holi- 
day. Meanwhile,  may  I  respectfully  remind 
Your  Royal  Highness  that,  on  the  last  journey, 
you  promised  me  the  young  princes'  photo- 
graph ?  " 

"  That's  true,"  she  answered,  "  I  forgot  all 
about  it.  But,  this  time — wait."  And,  taking 
her  handkerchief  from  her  waistband,  the  princess 
made  a  knot  in  it.  "  Now  I'm  sure  to  remember," 
she  added,  with  a  smile. 

And,  two  days  later,  I  received  a  splendid 
photograph  of  the  children,  adorned  with  their 
mother's  signature. 

Nearly  three  years  have  passed  since  this  last 
journey  and  I  have  not  had  the  honour  of  seeing 
King  George  and  Queen  Mary  since.  Neverthe- 
less, they  are  good  enough  to  think  of  me  some- 
times, as  will  be  seen  by  the  following  affectionate 
letter  which  my  friend  Sir  Arthur  Bigge  sent  me 
on  my  retirement : — 

295 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 


"  Marlborough  House,  Pall  Mall,  S.W.,  Fehij.  28th,  1909. 

"  My  Dear  Paoli, 

"  Your  letter  to  me  of  the  24th  inst.  has 
been  laid  before  the  Prince  and  Princess  of  Wales, 
who  received  with  feelings  of  deep  regret  the 
announcement  that  you  had  asked  for  and  ob- 
tained permission  to  retire.  Their  Royal  High- 
nesses are  indeed  sorry  to  think  that  they  will 
never  again  have  the  advantage  of  your  valuable 
services  so  efficiently  and  faithfully  rendered,  and 
which  always  greatly  conduced  to  the  pleasure 
and  comfort  of  Their  Royal  Highnesses'  stay  in 
France.  At  the  same  time  the  Prince  and  Prin- 
cess rejoice  to  know  that  you  will  now  enjoy  a 
well-merited  repose  after  forty-two  years  of  an 
anxious  and  strenuous  service  :  and  they  trust 
that  you  may  live  to  enjoy  many  years  of  health 
and  happiness. 

"  Their  Royal  Llighnesses  are  greatly  touched 
by  your  words  of  loyal  devotion,  and  thank  you 
heartily  for  these  kind  sentiments. 

"  As  to  myself,  the  thought  of  your  retirement 
reminds  me  that  a  precious  link  with  the  past  and 
especially  with  the  memory  of  our  great  and 
beloved  Queen  Victoria  is  now  broken.  I  re- 
member so  well  the  first  time  we  met  at  Modane 
when  Her  Majesty  was  travelling  to  Italy,  and  you 
will  ever  be  inseparably  connected  in  my  thoughts 
with  those  happy  days  spent  in  Her  Majesty's  ser- 
vice in  France.  I  can  well  imagine  what  interest 
296 


THE  ENGLISH  ROYAL  FAMILY 

you  will  find  in  writing  your  book  of  reminis- 
cences. 

"  Good-bye,  my  dear  Paoli,  and  believe  me  to  be 
"  your  old  and  devoted  friend, 

"  Arthur  Bigge." 


I  intended,  in  this  chapter,  to  speak  of  those 
members  of  the  royal  family  with  whom  my  long 
and  frequent  service  about  the  person  of  Queen 
Victoria  gave  me  the  occasion  to  come  into  con- 
tact ;  and  I  must  not  omit  to  mention  a  princess, 
now  no  more,  a  woman  of  lofty  intelligence  and 
great  heart,  whom  life  did  not  spare  the  most 
cruel  sorrows  after  granting  her  the  proudest 
destinies.  I  refer  to  the  Empress  Frederick  of 
Germany,  eldest  daughter  of  Queen  Victoria  and 
mother  of  William  II. 

I  made  her  acquaintance  in  rather  curious 
circumstances.  It  was  at  the  naval  review  held 
by  Queen  Victoria  in  1897,  on  the  occasion  of  her 
Diamond  Jubilee.  As  a  special  favour,  I  was 
invited  to  see  this  magnificent  sight  on  board  the 
Alberta,  and  I  was  gazing  with  wondering  eyes 
at  the  majestic  fleet  of  ironclads  through  which 
the  royal  yacht  had  just  begun  to  steam,  when  I 
heard  a  voice  behind  me  say,  in  the  purest 
Tuscan : 

"  Bongiorno,  Signor  Paoli.'''' 

I  turned  round.  A  woman,  still  young  in 
bearing,  though  her  face  was  crowned  with  grey 

297 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

hair  under  a  widow's  bonnet,  stood  before  me 
with  outstretched  hand : 

"  I  see,"  she  said,  smihng  at  my  surprise, 
"  that  you  do  not  know  me.  I  am  the  Empress 
Frederick.  I  have  often  heard  of  you,  and  I 
wanted  to  know  you  and  to  thank  you  for  your 
attentions  to  my  mother." 

I  bowed  low,  thinking  what  an  uncommon 
occurrence  it  must  be  for  a  Frenchman  to  meet  a 
German  empress,  talking  Italian,  on  an  English 
boat ;  and  she  continued  : 

"  I  know  that  you  are  a  Corsican ;  and  that  is 
why  I  am  speaking  to  you  in  your  native  language, 
which  I  learnt  at  Florence,  and  which  I  love  as 
much  as  I  do  my  own." 

The  Empress  Frederick,  in  fact,  was  remark- 
ably well-educated,  as  are  all  the  English  prin- 
cesses. She  knew  French  as  fluently  as  Italian 
and  hardly  ever  spoke  German,  except  to  her 
chamberlain.  Count  Wedel.  I  was  able  to  see, 
during  our  conversation,  that  she  took  a  lively 
interest  in  my  country ;  she  asked  me  a  thousand 
questions  about  France  and  particularly  about 
French  artists  : 

"  I  am  a  great  admirer  of  M.  Detaille's  works," 
she  said,  and  added,  after  a  pause,  "  He  is  very  like 
the  Emperor,  my  son.     Don't  you  think  so  ?  " 

I  thought  it  the  moment  for  prudence  : 

"  I  have  never  had  the  honour  of  seeing  the 
Emperor  William,"  I  replied,  "  and  therefore  I 
cannot  tell  Your  Imperial  Majesty  if  the  resem- 
blance has  struck  me." 
298 


THE  ENGLISH  ROYAL  FAMILY 

She  then  changed  the  conversation  and  spoke 
of  the  celebrations  which  were  being  prepared 
in  her  mother's  honour. 

The  only  other  occasion  on  which  I  saw  her 
was  two  years  later,  when  she  crossed  French  soil 
to  go  from  England  to  Italy.  This  time,  she  was 
nervous  and  ill  at  ease  : 

"Can  you  assure  me,"  she  asked,  as  she 
landed  at  Calais,  "  that  I  shall  meet  with  no 
unpleasantness  between  this  and  the  Italian 
frontier  ?  " 

"  Why,  what  are  you  afraid  of,  Ma'am  ?  "  I 
asked. 

"  You  forget,  M.  Paoli,  that  I  am  the  widow  of 
the  German  Emperor,  and  that,  as  such,  I  am 
no  favourite  in  this  country.  Suppose  I  were 
recognized  !  There  are  memories,  as  you  know, 
which  French  patriotism  refuses  to  dismiss." 

She  was  alluding  not  only  to  the  events  of  1870, 
but  to  the  bad  impression  made  in  Paris  by  the 
visit  which  she  had  paid,  a  few  years  earlier — 
without  any  ulterior  motive — to  the  ruined  palace 
of  Saint-Cloud,  forgetting  that  it  had  been 
destroyed  and  sacked  by  the  Prussians.  I  re- 
assured her,  nevertheless,  and  said  that  I  was 
prepared  to  vouch  for  the  respect  that  would 
be  shown  her. 

The  journey,  I  need  hardly  say,  passed  off 
without  a  hitch.  The  Empress,  with  her  suite, 
entered  the  private  saloon-carriage  of  her  brother, 
the  Prince  of  Wales,  which  was  coupled  to  the 
Paris  mail-train  and  afterwards  transferred  to  the 

299 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

Nice  express,  for  the  Empress  was  travelling  to 
Bordighera,  on  the  Italian  Riviera. 

She  dared  not  leave  her  carriage  during  the 
short  stop  Avhich  was  made  in  Paris ;  but,  when  we 
arrived  at  IMarseilles  the  next  morning,  she  said  : 

"  I  should  awfully  like  to  take  a  little  exercise. 
I  have  been  eighteen  hours  in  this  carriage  !  " 

"  But  please  do,  Ma'am,"  I  at  once  replied.  "  I 
promise  you  that  nothing  disagreeable  will  happen 
to  you." 

She  thereupon  decided  to  take  my  advice. 
She  stepped  down  on  the  platform  and  walked 
about  among  the  passengers.  She  was  received 
on  every  side  with  marks  of  deferential  respect — 
for,  of  course,  her  incognito  had  been  betrayed,  as 
every  incognito  should  be — and  suddenly  felt 
encouraged  to  such  an  extent  that,  from  that 
moment,  she  alighted  at  every  stop.  Gradually, 
indeed,  as  her  confidence  increased,  she  took 
longer  and  longer  in  returning  to  her  carriage, 
so  much  so  that  she  very  nearly  lost  the  train  at 
Nice;  and,  when  I  took  leave  of  her  at  Bordi- 
ghera, she  said,  as  she  gave  me  her  hand  to  kiss  : 

"  Forgive  me,  my  fears  were  absurd.  Now, 
I  have  but  one  wish,  to  make  a  fresh  stay  in 
France.  .  .  .  Who  knows  ?    Perhaps  next  year." 

I  do  not  know  what  circumstances  prevented 
her  from  fulfilling  her  hopes;  and  the  next  time 
I  heard  of  her  was  at  Queen  Victoria's  funeral. 
I  was  astonished  not  to  see  her  there  and  asked 
the  reason  of  her  chamberlain,  Count  Wedel,  who 
sat  beside  me  in  St.  George's  Chapel  at  Windsor. 
300 


THE   ENGLISH   ROYAL   FAMILY 

"  Alas,"  he  said,  "  our  poor  Empress  is  confined 
to  her  bed  by  a  terrible  illness  !  Think  how  she 
must  suffer  :  her  whole  body  is  one  great  aching 
sore  !  " 

A  few  months  later,  she  was  dead. 


4 

I  had  had  but  a  more  or  less  fleeting  vision  of 
this  amiable  sovereign,  whose  fate,  though  not  so 
tragic  as  that  of  the  Empress  Elizabeth  of  Austria, 
was  but  little  happier.  On  the  other  hand,  I  had 
opportunities  of  coming  into  much  more  frequent 
and  constant  contact  with  two  of  her  sisters. 
Princess  Christian  of  Schleswig-Holstein  and 
Princess  Henry  of  Battenberg. 

Closely  though  these  two  princesses  resemble 
each  other  in  the  admirable  filial  affection  which 
they  showed  their  mother,  they  are  entirely 
different  in  disposition.  Whereas  the  elder,  who 
is  generally  known  as  the  Princess  Christian,  is 
always  ready  to  talk  to  those  about  her.  Princess 
Beatrice,  the  younger,  is  comparatively  silent 
and  almost  self-contained,  but  without  the 
least  affectation :  in  fact,  I  have  seldom  met 
a  princess  more  simple  in  her  habits  or  more 
easy  of  access  to  poor  folk.  This  contrast  in 
their  attitude  towards  life  comes,  I  think,  from  a 
difference  in  their  temperaments  and  tastes.  The 
Princess  Christian  has  inherited  the  homely 
virtues  of  the  German  princesses  :  she  interests 
herself  mainly  in  philanthropic  and  social  ques- 

301 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

tions.  The  Princess  Henry,  on  the  contrary, 
feels  a  marked  attraction  for  literature  and  the 
arts,  which  she  cultivates  with  a  real  talent; 
and,  like  all  those  who  are  endowed  with  an  active 
brain,  she  loves  to  isolate  herself  from  the  outside 
world. 

I  must  say  that  I  never  knew  the  Princess 
Christian  as  well  as  I  did  her  sister,  for  the  very 
good  reason  that  she  did  not  accompany  Queen 
Victoria  to  France  as  often  as  the  Princess  Henry. 
Her  arrival  at  Nice  was  usually  later  than  that  of 
the  Queen  and  she  very  seldom  remained  until 
the  end  of  Her  Majesty's  stay. 

I  remember,  however,  that,  one  year,  they 
returned  to  England  together;  and,  in  this  con- 
nection, I  have  a  story  to  tell  which  goes  to  show 
how  keenly  alive  the  great  of  this  earth  can 
be  to  the  smallest  attentions  paid  them.  The 
royal  train,  which  had  left  Nice  in  the  morning, 
pulled  up,  at  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  as 
usual,  at  a  little  country-station  between  Avignon 
and  Tarascon,  in  order  to  enable  the  Queen  to  take 
her  tea  without  being  inconvenienced  by  the 
jolting  of  the  wheels.  Seeing  me  pacing  the  plat- 
form, the  Princess  Christian  stepped  from  the 
carriage  and  walked  up  and  down  beside  me.  In 
the  course  of  our  conversation,  she  began  to  talk 
of  her  children : 

"  Think  of  it  !  "  she  said,  with  a  certain  melan- 
choly.    "  My  daughter  Victoria  will  be  thirty  years 
old  to-morrow — for  to-morrow  is  her  birthday. 
How  time  flies  !  " 
302 


THE  ENGLISH  ROYAL  FAMILY 

Princess  Victoria  was  also  one  of  the  travelling- 
party.  As  soon,  therefore,  as  the  Princess  Chris- 
tian had  left  me,  I  scribbled  a  telegram  to  the 
special  commissary  at  Caen,  in  Normandy,  where 
we  were  to  stop  for  a  few  minutes,  next  day,  on 
our  way  to  Cherbourg,  and  told  him  to  order  a 
bouquet  and  hand  it  to  me  as  the  train  passed 
through. 

The  following  morning,  when  we  entered  the 
station  at  Caen,  I  found  my  bouquet  awaiting 
me  :  a  modest  nosegay,  consisting  of  all  the  rustic 
flowers  of  the  fields,  which  my  worthy  commissary 
had  had  gathered  in  the  morning  dew.  I  at  once 
presented  it  to  Princess  Victoria,  wishing  her  many 
happy  returns  of  her  birthday ;  and  I  cannot  say 
which  of  the  four  of  us — the  Queen,  the  two 
princesses  or  I — was  most  touched  by  the  affec- 
tionate gratitude  which  they  all  three  expressed 
to  me. 


But,  as  I  have  said  above,  of  all  Queen  Victoria's 

daughters,  the  one  whom  I  knew  best  was  the 

Princess  Henry  of  Battenberg.     In  point  of  fact, 

she  hardly  ever  left  her  august  mother's  side,  from 

the  day  when  her  married  bliss  received  so  cruel 

a  blow  in  the  tragic  death  of  her  husband,  and 

when  distress  of  mind  found  a  refuge  and  peace 

in  the  love  of  that   mother,   whose  heart   was 

always  filled  with  the  most  delicate  compassion 

for  every  sorrow. 

303 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

A  close  link  had  been  formed  between  those 
two  women  :  the  Princess  Henry  had  become  the 
confidante  of  Queen  Victoria's  thoughts  and  was 
also,  very  often,  the  intermediary  of  her  acts  of 
discreet  munificence.  At  Nice,  she  occupied  the 
magnificent  Villa  Liserb,  close  to  the  hotel  at 
which  the  Queen  resided.  Here  I  watched  the 
games  and  the  physical  development  of  the 
princess's  four  children,  Prince  Alexander,  Prince 
Maurice,  Prince  Leopold  and  little  Princess  Ena, 
little  thinking  that  I  should  live  to  see  the  heavy 
crown  of  Charles  V.  and  Philip  II.  placed  upon  the 
pretty,  golden  hair  which  was  then  still  tied  back 
with  pale-blue  ribbons.  Day  after  day,  for 
many  years,  I  saw  those  same  children  hail 
their  grandmother's  appearance  with  cries  of 
delight. 

The  daily  drive  in  the  grounds  of  the  Villa 
Liserb  was  one  of  Queen  Victoria's  favourite 
pleasures.  She  went  there  in  her  chair  drawn 
by  Jacquot,  the  grey  donkey,  solemnly  led  by  the 
Hindoo  servant,  whose  gaudy  attire,  like  a  mon- 
strous flower,  struck  a  loud  note  of  colour  against 
the  green  of  the  surrounding  foliage.  Slowly  and 
smoothly,  with  infinite  care,  the  little  carriage 
advanced  along  the  garden-paths  which  the 
pines,  eucalyptus  and  olive-trees  shaded  with 
their  luxurious  tresses.  The  Queen,  holding  the 
reins  for  form's  sake,  would  cast  her  eyes  from 
side  to  side  in  search  of  her  grandchildren,  who 
were  usually  crouching  in  the  flower-beds  or  hiding 
behind  the  trees,  happy  in  constantly  renewing 
304 


THE  ENGLISH  ROYAL  FAMILY 

the  innocent  conspiracy  of  a  surprise — always 
the  same — which  they  prepared  for  their  grand- 
mother, and  which  consisted  in  suddenly  bursting 
out  around  her. 

Or  else  a  shuttlecock  or  a  hoop  would  stray 
between  Jacquot's  legs. 

*'  Stop,  Jacquot  !  "  cried  the  children. 

And  Jacquot,  best-tempered  of  donkeys,  would 
stop  all  the  more  readily  as  he  knew  that  his 
patience  would  be  rewarded  with  a  lump  of 
sugar. 

The  Princess  Henry  of  Battenberg  spent  long 
hours  in  this  wonderful,  smiling  oasis,  dividing  her 
time  between  the  education  of  her  children,  which 
she  supervised  and  directed  in  person,  and  her 
own  intellectual  pursuits,  to  which  she  devoted 
herself  ardently.  She  used  to  draw  and  paint 
very  prettily,  at  that  time ;  and  she  never  forgot 
to  take  her  sketch-book  with  her  when  accom- 
panying the  Queen  on  her  drives  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Nice.  She  sat  and  sketched  while 
tea  was  being  prepared  in  some  picturesque 
spot  where  the  royal  carriage  halted  for  the 
purpose. 

She  was  a  first-rate  musician,  played  the 
harmonium  on  Sundays  in  the  chapel  of  the  Hotel 
Regina  and  often  entered  the  Catholic  churches 
during  the  services,  in  order  to  listen  to  the  sacred 
music,  which  she  preferred  above  all  others. 
In  this  way,  she  came  to  appreciate  more  par- 
ticularly the  talent  of  a  young  organist  called 
Pons,  now  a  distinguished  composer,  who,  at  that 

305 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

time,  used  to  play  the  organ  at  the  church  of 
Notre-Dame  at  Nice.  This  artist,  who  was  a 
native  of  the  south  of  France,  possessed  a  remark- 
able gift  of  improvisation  which  amazed  the 
princess  so  greatly  that  she  was  always  speaking 
of  it  to  the  Queen  : 

"  You  really  ought  to  hear  him,"  she  would 
say. 

"  But  he  can't  bring  his  organ  to  the  hotel ! " 
the  Queen  replied,  laughing. 

"  Why  should  you  not  go  to  his  church  ?  I 
assure  you  that  you  will  not  regret  it." 

The  Queen,  who  was  easily  persuaded  by  her 
daughter,  ended  by  consenting  to  visit  Notre- 
Dame  one  afternoon,  on  condition  that  she  should 
be  alone  there,  with  her  suite,  during  the  little 
recital  which  the  organist  was  to  give  for  her 
benefit.  Princess  Beatrice,  who  was  delighted  at 
attaining  her  object,  plied  me  with  instructions 
so  that  the  Queen  might  have  a  genuine  artistic 
surprise :  • 

*'  Be  sure  and  see  that  there  is  no  one  in  the 
church,"  she  said  to  me.  "  And  tell  M.  Pons  to 
surpass  himself." 

I  went  and  called  on  the  rector  and  the  organist. 
The  former  very  kindly  promised  to  take  all  the 
necessary  steps  for  his  church  to  be  quite  empty 
during  Her  Majesty's  visit.  As  for  M.  Pons,  the 
honour  which  the  Queen  was  doing  him  almost 
turned  his  head.  He  saw  himself  the  equal  of 
Bach  and  would  have  accosted  Mozart  by  his 
surname  if  he  had  met  him  in  the  street ; 
306 


THE  ENGLISH  ROYAL  FAMILY 

"  The  Queen  will  be  satisfied,  I  promise  you,'* 
he  declared,  in  his  southern  sing-song. 

Things  passed  very  nearly  as  we  hoped.  At  the 
hour  agreed  upon,  the  royal  landau  stopped  before 
the  door  of  the  church ;  the  Queen,  accompanied 
by  the  princess  and  a  few  persons  of  her  suite, 
including  myself,  entered  the  great  nave,  where 
only  a  few  small  lights  shone  like  golden  stars 
in  the  spacious  darkness.  When  the  Queen  was 
seated  in  the  arm-chair  which  I  had  sent  on  ahead, 
Pons  began  to  shed  floods  of  harmony  upon  us 
from  his  organ-loft  above. 

Nothing  would  have  disturbed  our  meditation, 
but  for  a  cat,  an  enormous  black  cat,  which,  after 
prowling  behind  the  pillars,  suddenly  came  up 
to  the  royal  chair  unperceived  and  jumped  most 
disrespectfully  into  Her  Majesty's  lap  !  Picture 
the  excitement !  We  drove  it  away.  It  returned. 
We  tried  to  drive  it  away  again.  But  it  was 
stubborn  in  its  affections  and  returned  once 
more.  Thereupon  the  Queen,  who  was  more 
surprised  than  annoyed,  resigned  herself  and 
accepted  the  curious  adventure.  She  stroked 
the  animal  and  kept  it  with  her  until  the  end 
of  the  recital. 


6 

When  Princess  Henry  of  Battenberg  did  not 

accompany   her   mother   on   her    drives — which 

happened   very   rarely — she   liked   going   to  the 

Empress  Eugenie,  who  treated  her  as  a  daughter, 

x2  307 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

and  who,  as  everybody  knows,  was  the  god- 
mother of  Queen  Victoria  Eugenie  of  Spain.  The 
princess  would  sometimes  spend  the  whole  after- 
noon at  the  villa  of  Napoleon  III.'s  widow ;  one 
year  indeed,  she  and  Princess  Ena  stayed  there 
all  through  the  winter.  It  was  on  this  occasion 
that  I  found  myself  placed  in  a  very  delicate 
position. 

What  occurred  was  this  :  the  princess  sent  word 
to  me,  one  day,  with  the  Empress's  consent, 
inviting  me  to  dinner  at  the  Villa  Cyrnos.  I 
was  at  first  a  little  perplexed.  It  seemed  to  me 
a  rather  ticklish  matter,  considering  my  official 
position,  to  figure  at  the  table  of  the  ex-Empress 
of  the  French.  On  the  other  hand,  to  refuse  the 
invitation  seemed  tantamount  to  insulting  the 
daughter  of  the  Queen  of  England,  to  whom  I  was 
accredited.  At  last,  I  resolved  to  swallow  my 
scruples  and  accepted. 

That  evening,  after  dinner,  when  thanking 
the  Empress  for  her  kindness,  I  could  not  help 
saying  : 

"  I  suppose,  Madame,  that  there  are  very  few 
officials  of  the  Republic  who  would  have  dared  to 
sit  down  at  Your  Majesty's  table." 

"To  be  equally  frank  with  you,"  the  Empress 
at  once  replied,  laughing,  "  I  will  ask  you  to 
believe,  my  dear  M.  Paoli,  that  there  are  also 
very  few  officials  of  the  Republic  whom  I  should 
have  cared  to  see  seated  there  like  yourself ! " 


308 


THE  ENGLISH  ROYAL  FAMILY 


I  must  not  close  the  story  of  the  periods  which 
I  spent  with  the  royal  family  at  Nice  without 
recalling  that,  on  some  of  those  occasions,  I  also 
met  the  Marchioness  of  Lome,  now  Duchess 
of  Argyll,  and  the  Duke  of  Connaught;  but,  to 
tell  the  truth,  I  only  caught  glimpses  of  them, 
because  of  the  shortness  of  their  visits. 

I  can  also  only  mention  quite  casually  the  name 
of  Queen  Alexandra,  for  this  charming  lady  has 
never  stayed  in  France  for  any  length  of  time. 
With  the  exception  of  two  visits,  of  forty-eight 
hours  each,  with  which  she  honoured  Paris  when 
she  went  to  France  with  King  Edward,  she  has 
confined  herself  to  passing  through  our  country 
on  her  way  to  Denmark  or  to  join  the  royal  yacht 
at  Marseilles  or  Genoa.  On  each  of  the  journeys 
during  which  I  was  attached  to  her  person,  she 
gave  me  every  sign  of  that  captivating  and  be- 
witching kindness  of  which  she  alone  appears  to 
possess  the  secret.  I  also  remember  perceiving, 
as  do  all  those  who  approach  her,  the  touching 
affection  that  unites  her  to  her  sister,  the  Dowager 
Empress  of  Russia.  Each  time  that  she  parted 
from  her  at  Calais,  to  proceed  either  to  Copen- 
hagen or  to  the  south,  while  the  Empress  Marie 
Feodorovna  was  returning  to  St.  Petersburg,  she 
never  failed  to  say  to  me,  in  a  voice  full  of 
anxiety : 

"  M.  Paoli,  do  take  the  greatest  care  of  my 
sister.     Watch  over  her  attentively.     I  shall  not 

809 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

know  a  moment's  peace  until  I  hear  that  she  has 
arrived  at  the  end  of  her  journey." 

The  years  have  passed  and  it  is  not  without 
pride  that  I  reflect  upon  the  fact  that  I  have 
known  four  generations  of  that  glorious  royal 
family  of  England  ! 

But,  alas,  it  makes  me  feel  no  younger  ! 


310 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE    KING    OF   CAMBODIA 


The  King  of  Cambodia  was,  so  to  speak,  my 
last  "  client,"  at  least  the  last  of  those  whom  I 
was  "  protecting  "  for  the  first  time,  for  he  had 
never  set  foot  in  France  when,  three  years  ago, 
I  beheld  him,  in  the  bright  light  of  a  fine  morning 
in  June,  greeting  with  a  loud  laugh  the  port  of 
Marseilles,  the  gold-laced  officials  who  had  come 
to  receive  him,  the  soldiers,  the  sailors,  the 
porters  and  the  regimental  band. 

For  he  loved  laughing.  Hilarity  with  him 
was  a  habit,  a  necessity;  it  burst  forth  like  a 
flourish  of  trumpets,  it  went  off  like  a  rocket 
at  anything  or  nothing,  suddenly  lighting  up 
his  elderl}^  monkey-face  and  revealing  amidst 
the  dark  smudge  that  formed  his  features  a 
dazzling  keyboard  of  ivory  teeth. 

Sisowath  King  of  Cambodia  struck  me  as  a 
little  yellow,  dry,  sinewy  man  who  had  been 
snowed  upon,  for  amid  his  hard  stubble  of  shiny 
black  hairs  there  gleamed,  over  the  temples, 
patches  of  white  bristles  that  bore  witness  to 
his  five-and-sixty  summers.  He  still  looked 
young,  because  of  the  slightness  of  his  figure; 

^11 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

and  his  costume  consisted  of  a  singular  mis- 
cellany of  Cambodian  and  European  garments. 

From  the  knees  to  the  waist,  his  dress  sug- 
gested the  east.  Starting  from  the  frontier 
formed  by  his  belt,  the  west  resumed  its  rights 
and  set  the  fashion  ...  of  the  day  before 
yesterday  !  His  feet  were  clad  in  shoes  re- 
sembling a  bishop's,  with  broad,  flat  buckles, 
whence  rose  two  spindle-shanks  confined  in 
black  silk  stockings  and  ending  in  a  queer  pair 
of  breeches  of  a  thin,  silky,  copper-coloured 
material,  something  midway  between  a  cyclist's 
knickerbockers  and  a  woman's  petticoat  and 
known  as  the  sampot,  the  national  dress  of 
Cambodia.  Over  these  breeches  of  uncertain 
cut  fell  the  graceless  tails  of  an  eighteenth-century 
dress-coat,  opening  over  a  shirt-front  crossed 
by  the  broad  ribbon  of  the  Legion  of  Honour. 
Lastly,  this  astonishing  get-up  was  topped  with 
a  rusty  tall  hat,  dating  back  to  the  year  1830, 
which  crowned  the  monarch's  head. 

All  this  made  him  look  like  a  carnival  reveller 
who  had  come  fresh  from  a  fancy-dress  ball. 
Nevertheless,  he  took  himself  very  seriously; 
and  the  French  government  treated  him  with 
every  consideration,  for  he  represented  a  valu- 
able asset  in  the  exercise  of  our  protectorate 
over  Cambodia. 

Those  acquainted  with  the  traditions  of  the 
Cambodian  court  will  know  that,  in  consenting 
to  leave  his  realms  for  a  time  in  order  to  go 
to  France,  he  had  broken  every  religious  and 
312 


THE   KING   OF   CAMBODIA 

political  law.  To  appease  the  wrath  of  Buddha 
and  relieve  his  own  conscience,  before  leaving 
his  capital,  Pnom-Penh,  he  had  sent  magnificent 
offerings  to  the  tombs  of  the  Kne-Kne  kings, 
bathed  in  lustral  water  prepared  by  the  prayers 
of  sixty-seven  bonzes,  invoked  the  emerald 
statue  of  the  god  Berdika,  and  accepted  at  the 
hands  of  the  chief  Brahmin  a  leaf  of  scented 
amber,  by  way  of  a  lucky  charm. 

It  was  really  impossible  to  surround  himself 
with  more  potent  safeguards;  and  he  had  every 
reason  to  be  in  a  good  humour,  although  he  had 
flown  into  a  great  rage  on  the  passage  at  seeing 
his  suite  abandoning  themselves  to  the  tortures 
of  sea-sickness  : 

*'  I  forbid  you  to  be  sick  !  "  he  shouted  to 
them.  "  Those  are  mj^  orders ;  am  I  the  King 
or  am  I  not  ?  " 

Distracted  by  the  impossibility  of  obeying, 
they  took  refuge  in  the  depths  of  the  steamer 
and  did  not  reappear  on  deck  until  the  ship 
approached  the  Straits  of  Messina.  And  the 
saddened  sovereign  was  made  to  realize  for  the 
first  time  that  he  was  not  omnipotent.  The  fact 
made  so  great  an  impression  on  his  mind  that, 
from  that  time  forward,  he  became  excessively 
and  almost  inconveniently  polite.  He  shook 
hands  with  everybody  he  saw,  beginning  with 
the  flunkeys  at  the  Marseilles  Prefecture,  who 
lined  the  staircase  as  he  went  upstairs. 


313 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 


Keen  as  was  the  interest  taken  by  the  pubHc 
in  Sisowath,  it  paled  before  the  curiosity  aroused 
by  his  dancing-girls.  They  formed  an  integral 
part  of  that  extraordinary  royal  suite,  in  which 
figured  three  of  his  ministers,  four  of  his  sons, 
his  daughter,  two  sons  of  King  Norodom,  his 
predecessor,  and  eleven  favourites,  accompanied 
by  a  swarm  of  chamberlains,  ladies  of  the  bed- 
chamber and  pages. 

On  the  other  hand,  amid  the  disorder  of  that 
Oriental  horde,  the  cor'ps  de  ballet  constituted 
a  caste  apart,  haughty,  sacerdotal  and  self- 
contained.  The  twenty  dancers  came  to  France 
preceded  by  a  great  reputation  for  beauty.  It 
may  have  been  the  result  of  beholding  them  in 
a  different  setting,  under  a  different  sky ;  but 
this  much  is  certain,  that  they  did  not  appear 
to  me  in  the  same  light  in  which  they  had  been 
depicted  to  us  by  enthusiastic  travellers. 

Sisowath's  dancing-girls  are  not  exactly  pretty, 
judged  by  our  own  standard  of  feminine  beauty. 
With  their  hard  and  close-cropped  hair,  their 
figures  like  those  of  striplings,  their  thin,  muscular 
legs  like  those  of  young  boys,  their  arms  and 
hands  like  those  of  little  girls,  they  seem  to 
belong  to  no  definite  sex.  They  have  some- 
thing of  the  child  about  them,  something  of  the 
young  warrior  of  antiquity,  and  something  of 
the  woman.  Their  usual  dress,  which  is  half 
feminine  and  half  masculine,  consisting  of  the 
314 


THE   KING   OF   CAMBODIA 

famous  sampot  worn  in  creases  between  their 
knees  and  their  hips  and  of  a  silk  shawl  con- 
fining their  shoulders,  crossed  over  the  bust  and 
knotted  at  the  loins,  tends  to  heighten  this 
curious  impression.  But,  in  the  absence  of 
beauty,  they  possess  grace,  a  supple,  captivat- 
ing, royal  grace,  which  is  present  in  their  every 
attitude  and  gesture;  they  have  a  perfume  of 
fabled  legend  to  accompany  them,  the  sacred 
character  of  their  functions  to  ennoble  them; 
lastly,  they  have  their  dances  full  of  mystery 
and  majesty  and  art,  those  dances  which  have 
been  handed  down  faithfully  in  the  course  of 
the  ages,  and  whose  every  movement,  whose 
every  deft  curve  remains  inscribed  on  the  bas- 
reliefs  of  the  ruins  of  Ankor.  For  these  reasons, 
they  are  beautiful,  with  the  special  beauty  that 
clings  to  remote,  inscrutable  and  fragile  things. 

They  are  all  girls  of  good  extraction,  for  it 
is  an  honour  much  sought  after  by  the  noble 
families  of  Cambodia  to  have  a  child  admitted 
to  the  King's  troupe  of  dancers.  Contrary  to 
what  has  sometimes  been  asserted,  the  dancing- 
girls  do  not  form  part  of  the  royal  harem; 
they  are  looked  upon  as  vestals :  virginal  and 
radiant,  they  perform,  in  dancing,  a  more  or 
less  religious  rite. 

When  they  accompanied  Sisowath  to  France, 
they  were  under  the  management  of  the  King's 
own  eldest  daughter,  the  Princess  Soumphady, 
an  ugly,  cross-grained  old  maid,  who  ruled  them 
with   an   iron   hand.     The    "  stars "    were   four 

315 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

principal  dancers,  whose  names  seemed  to  have 
been  picked,  Hke  the  king's  leaves  of  scented 
amber,  in  some  sacred  grove  of  Buddha's  mys- 
terious realm :  they  were  called  Miles.  Mih, 
Pho,  Nuy  and  Pruong. 


When  the  whole  party  were  landed,  they  had 
to  be  put  up ;  and  this  was  no  easy  matter.  The 
Marseilles  Prefecture  was  hardly  large  enough 
to  house  the  King's  fabulous  and  cumbrous 
retinue.  We  distributed  its  members  over  some 
of  the  neighbouring  houses ;  but  they  spent  their 
days  at  the  Prefecture,  which  was  then  and  there 
transformed  into  the  camp  of  an  Asiatic  caravan. 
The  ante-rooms  and  passages  were  blocked  with 
pieces  of  luggage  each  quainter  than  the  other. 
Heaped  up  promiscuously  were  jewel-cases,  dress- 
trunks,  cases  of  opium,  bales  of  rice  and  sacks 
of  coal,  for  the  Cambodians,  fearing  lest  they 
should  fail  to  find  in  Europe  the  coal  which  they 
use  to  cook  their  rice,  had  insisted,  at  all  costs, 
on  bringing  with  them  two  hundred  sacks,  which 
now  lay  trailing  about  upon  the  Smyrna  rugs  ! 

When,  on  the  evening  of  his  arrival,  I  pushed 
my  way  through  this  medley  of  incongruous 
baggage  to  present  myself  to  the  King,  of  whom 
I  had  caught  but  a  passing  glimpse  on  the  Mar- 
seilles quays,  M.  Gautret,  the  colonial  adminis- 
trator who  had  travelled  with  our  guests,  said 
to  me  : 
316 


THE   KING   OF   CAMBODIA 

"  His  Majesty  is  at  dinner,  but  wishes  to  see 
you.     Come  this  way." 

Shall  I  ever  forget  that  audience  ?  Sisowath 
sat  at  a  large  table,  surrounded  by  his  family, 
his  ministers,  his  favourites  and  his  dancing- 
girls,  while,  squatting  in  a  corner  on  the  floor, 
were  half-a-dozen  musicians — His  Majesty's 
private  band — scraping  away  like  mad  on  frail- 
sounding  instruments.  The  King  was  eating 
salt  fish  which  had  been  prepared  for  him  by 
his  own  cooks.  He  was  the  only  one  to  use  a 
knife  and  fork.  The  others  did  not  care  for  such 
luxuries;  at  intervals,  a  waiter  handed  round 
a  large  gold  bowl  filled  with  rice,  into  which 
ministers,  favourites  and  dancing-girls  dipped 
their  hands,  subsequently  transferring  the  con- 
tents to  their  mouths. 

When  M.  Gautret  had  mentioned  my  name  and 
explained  the  nature  of  my  functions,  the  King, 
who  was  gloating  over  his  loathsome  fish,  looked 
up,  gave  me  his  hand  and,  with  his  everlasting 
noisy  laugh,  flung  me  a  few  vapid  monosyllables  : 

"Glad!  .  .  .  Friend!  .  .  .  Long  live  France ! " 

Our  conversation  went  no  further  on  that  day. 
The  next  morning,  we  visited  together  the  sights 
of  Marseilles  and  its  Colonial  Exhibition.  Siso- 
wath, though  very  loquacious,  was  not  astonished 
at  anything,  or  at  least  pretended  not  to  be.  His 
dancers  and  favourites,  on  the  other  hand,  were 
astonished  at  everything.  They  pawed  the  red- 
silk  chairs  for  ever  so  long  before  venturing  to 
sit  upon  the  extreme  edge,   so  great  was  their 

317 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

fear  of  spoiling  tliem  :  most  often,  after  a  pre- 
liminary hesitation,  they  would  end  by  settling 
down  upon  the  floor,  where  they  felt  more  at 
home.  And  yet  they  were  not  devoid  of  tact, 
as  they  showed  when  I  took  them,  at  the  King's 
wish,  to  see  the  fine  church  of  Notre-Dame-de-la- 
Garde,  which,  from  the  top  of  its  rock,  commands 
a  view  of  the  city,  the  surrounding  country  and 
the  sea.  They  wanted  to  go  up  to  the  sanctuary 
and  entered  it  with  the  same  respectful  demean- 
our which  they  would  have  displayed  in  the 
most  sacred  of  their  own  pagodas.  When  we 
explained  to  them  that  the  thousands  of  ex- 
votos  which  adorn  the  walls  of  the  chapel 
represent  so  many  tokens  of  pious  gratitude, 
their  eyes,  like  the  King  of  Thule's,  filled  with 
tears  and  they  suddenly  prostrated  themselves, 
just  "as  they  might  have  done  before  the  images 
of  their  own  Buddha. 

During  this  time,  the  King,  who  had  fished 
out  a  pair  of  white  gloves  and  a  white  tie  and 
adorned  his  sampot  with  an  emerald  belt,  stood 
smiling  at  the  *' Marseillaise,"  which  was  being 
performed  in  his  honour. 

Until  then,  I  had  enjoyed  but  a  foretaste  of 
the  life  and  manners  of  the  Cambodian  court. 
The  stay  which  Sisowath  and  his  suite  were  about 
to  make  in  Paris  was  to  enlighten  me  on  this 
subject  for  good  and  all. 

After  three  days'  driving  through  the  streets 
of  Marseilles,  the  royal  caravan  set  out  for  the 
capital,  where  the  French  government  had  re- 
318 


THE   KING   OF   CAMBODIA 

solved  to  give  it  an  official  reception  and  to 
entertain  it  at  the  expense  of  the  nation.  With 
this  object  in  view,  the  government  had  hired 
a  private  liouse  in  the  Avenue  Malakoff  and 
prudently  furnished  it  from  the  national  reposi- 
tory with  chairs  and  tables  "  that  need  fear  no 
damage." 

Meanwhile,  the  Colonial  Office  had  appointed 
me  superintendent-in- chief  of  this  novel  "  palace  " 
and  I  had  to  take  up  my  abode  there  during 
the  whole  of  our  royal  guest's  stay.  The  result 
was  that,  during  the  three  weeks  which  I  spent 
amid  these  picturesque  surroundings,  I  enjoyed 
all  the  attractions  of  the  most  curiously  exotic 
life  that  could  possibly  be  imagined. 

The  bedroom  allotted  to  me  opened  upon  the 
passage  containing  the  King's  apartments;  so 
that  I  may  be  said  to  have  occupied  a  front  seat 
at  the  permanent  and  delicious  entertainment 
provided  by  the  Cambodian  court  for  the  benefit 
of  those  admitted  to  its  privacy. 

What  struck  me  first  of  all  was  the  indiscreet 
familiarity  of  His  Majesty's  family  and  favour- 
ites. Princes,  ministers  and  favourites  spent 
their  lives  in  the  passages  and  walked  in  and  out 
of  my  room  with  an  astonishing  absence  of  con- 
straint and  in  the  airiest  of  costumes.  If  I 
happened  to  be  there,  they  paid  no  attention 
to  my  presence  :  they  explored  the  room,  poked 
about  in  the  corners,  tried  the  springs  of  my 
bed,    asked    me    for    cigarettes,    examined    my 

brushes    and    combs,    smiled    and    went    away. 

3i9 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

When  I  was  out,  they  entered  just  the  same, 
emptied  my  cigar-  and  cigarette-boxes,  sat  down 
on  my  carpet  and  exchanged  remarks  that  may 
have  been  jocular  for  all  I  know  :  I  never  found 
out. 

Anxious  to  avoid  any  sort  of  friction,  I  made 
no  complaint.  I  contented  myself  with  locking 
up  my  personal  belongings  and  replacing  my 
boxes  of  havanas  with  boxes  of  penny  cigars; 
but  my  plunderers  held  different  views  :  the 
ladies,  especially,  who  had  learnt  to  distinguish 
between  good  cigars  and  common  "  Senateurs,'' 
expressed  their  rage  and  vexation  with  violent 
gestures  and  resolved  thenceforth  to  give  me  the 
cold  shoulder — which  was  more  than  I  had 
hoped  for. 

There  remained  another  drawback  to  which 
I  had,  willy-nilly,  to  submit  until  the  end.  It 
consisted  of  Sisowath's  unpleasant  habit  of  walk- 
ing up  and  down  the  passages  at  night,  talking 
and  laughing  with  his  suite,  while  his  orchestra 
tinkled  out  the  "  national  "  airs  to  an  accom- 
paniment of  tambourines  and  cymbals.  It  w^as 
simply  maddening ;  and,  when  I  tried  to  make  a 
discreet  protest,  I  was  told  that,  as  His  Majesty 
took  a  siesta  during  the  day,  he  had  no  need  for 
sleep  at  night.  The  argument  admitted  of  no 
reply;    and  I  had  to  accept  the  inevitable. 

On  the  other  hand,  I  enjoyed  a  few  compen- 
sations. I  was  invited,  from  time  to  time,  to 
assist  at  the  King's  toilet  when  he  donned  his 
gala  clothes  to  go  to  an  official  dinner  or  a  cere- 
320 


THE   KING   OF   CAMBODIA 

mony  of  one  kind  or  another.  After  he  had 
finished  his  abhitions — for  he  was  always  very 
particular  about  his  person — his  wives  pro- 
ceeded to  dress  him.  They  helped  him  into  a 
gorgeous  green  and  gold  sampot  and  a  brocaded 
tunic,  and  put  round  his  throat  a  sort  of  necklace 
resembling  the  gorget  of  a  coat  of  mail  and  made 
of  dull  gold  set  with  precious  stones,  ending  at 
the  shoulders  in  two  sheets  of  gold  that  stuck 
out  on  either  side  like  wings.  They  next  girt 
his  waist,  arms  and  ankles  with  a  belt  and  brace- 
lets encrusted  with  exquisite  gems.  Lastly,  they 
took  away  his  rusty  and  antiquated  old  "  topper  " 
and  gave  him  in  exchange  a  wide  Cambodian 
felt  hat,  surmounted  by  a  kind  of  three-storied 
tower  running  into  a  point,  adorned  with  gold 
chasings  and  literally  paved  with  diamonds 
and  emeralds.  Thus  attired,  Sisowath  looked 
very  grand  :  he  resembled  the  statue  of  a  Hindoo 
god  removed  from  its  pagoda. 

Nevertheless,  western  civilization  began  stealth- 
ily to  exert  its  formidable  influence  over  his 
tastes,  if  not  his  habits.  We  had  not  been 
a  week  in  Paris  before  our  guest  thought  it 
better,  on  his  afternoon  excursions,  to  replace 
the  sampot  with  the  conventional  European 
trousers  and  his  out-of-date  cut-away  with  a 
faultless  frock-coat.  But  for  his  yellow  com- 
plexion, his  slanting  eyes  and  his  woolly  hair, 
he  would  have  looked  a  regular  dandy  ! 

Ever  eager  to  appear  good-natured  and  polite, 

he  kissed  the  daughters  of  the  hall-porter  at  the 

Y  32] 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

Colonial  Office  each  time  he  went  to  the  Pavilion 
de  Flore,  and  shook  hands  with  the  messengers 
at  the  Foreign  Office  and  with  all  the  salesmen 
at  the  Bon  Marche,  which  he  made  a  point  of 
visiting.  Again,  when  passing  through  the  Place 
Victor-Hugo,  he  never  failed  to  take  off  his  hat 
with  a  great  flourish  to  our  national  poet.  Lastly, 
I  had  the  greatest  difficulty  in  keeping  him  from 
sending  sacred  offerings  to  the  tomb  of  Napoleon 
I.,  "  whom  we  hold  in  veneration  in  Cambodia," 
he  explained  to  me  through  the  interpreter. 
Hearing,  on  the  other  hand,  that  European 
sovereigns  are  accustomed  to  leave  their  cards 
on  certain  official  personages,  he  asked  me  to 
order  him  a  hundred,  worded  as  follows  : 


Preas  Bat  Somdach  Preas  Sisowath 
Chom  Chakrepongs. 


322 


THE   KING   OF   CAMBODIA 


Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  the  ever-fresh  surprises 
which  Paris  had  in  store  for  him  and  of  their 
undoubted  attraction  for  his  mind,  the  King 
soon  began  to  feel  a  certain  lassitude  : 

"  Paris,"  he  said  to  me,  "  is  a  wonderful,  but 
tiring  city.  The  houses  are  too  high  and  there 
are  too  many  carriages.  How  is  it  that  you  still 
allow  horse-carriages  ?  If  I  were  the  master 
here,  I  would  abolish  them  and  allow  nothing 
but  motors." 

When  he  had  visited  the  public  buildings  and 
seen  the  sights,  and  been  to  Fontainebleau  and 
Versailles  and  Compiegne,  and  had  the  mechanism 
of  the  phonographs  and  cinematographs  ex- 
plained to  him,  he  began  to  bore  himself.  He 
then  thought  of  his  dancing-girls,  whom  he  had 
left  behind  at  Marseilles,  and  sent  for  them  to 
Paris,  on  the  pretext  of  exhibiting  them  at  a 
garden-party  given  by  the  President  of  the  Re- 
public at  the  Elysee.  One  fine  morning,  they 
all  landed  at  the  Gare  de  Lyon,  a  little  bewildered, 
a  little  flurried,  in  the  charge  of  the  grim  Princess 
Soumphady,  who  was  dressed  in  a  violet  sampot, 
with  a  stream  of  diamonds  round  her  neck. 
They  arrived  looking  like  so  many  lost  sheep, 
accompanied  by  their  six  readers,  their  eight 
singers,  their  four  dressers,  their  two  comedians 
and  their  six  musicians. 

The  dancers'  advent  created  quite  a  sensation 
Y2  323 


INIY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

in  the  district  of  the  Avenue  Malakoff.  They 
were  quartered  opposite  the  royal  ''  palace,"  in 
a  building  at  the  back  of  a  courtyard,  and  when, 
at  last,  good  King  Sisowath  saw  them  from  his 
balcony,  a  broad  smile  of  happiness  lit  up  his 
yellow  face. 

They  rehearsed  their  ballets  every  morning,  in 
a  large  room  that  did  duty  as  a  theatre.  I  was 
allowed  to  look  on,  as  a  special  favour,  and  I 
was  thus  able  to  watch  pretty  closely  those 
curious  and  amazingly  artistic  little  creatures 
and  their  dances. 

Their  ballets  always  began  with  a  musical 
prelude  performed  upon  brass  and  bamboo  in- 
struments. Then,  while  some  of  the  women 
struck  up  a  religious  chant  and  others  clapped 
their  hands  in  measured  time,  the  dancers  left 
the  group  one  b)^  one,  shooting  out  and  meeting 
in  the  ring;  and  a  regular  fanciful,  childish 
drama  was  suggested  by  their  movements,  their 
gestures  and  their  attitudes,  which  contrasted 
strangely  with  the  sacerdotal  repose  of  their 
features.  They  looked,  at  one  time,  like  large, 
living  flowers;  at  another,  like  automatic  dolls. 

The  dances  provided  an  odd  medley  of  Moorish 
and  Spanish  steps.  Sometimes,  the  stomach 
would  sway  to  and  fro,  as  though  one  were  watch- 
ing a  dance  of  Egyptian  almes;  at  other  times, 
the  legs  quivered  and  the  dancer  stamped  her 
feet,  raised  her  arms,  jerked  her  hips,  as  though 
she  meant  to  give  us  some  Andalusian  jota  or 
habanera.  And  nothing  allowed  the  inner  feelings 
324 


THE   KING   OF   CAMBODIA 

of  the  soul  to  penetrate  through  those  faces, 
which  seemed  inanimate  beneath  their  fixed 
smiles ;  yet  what  suggestive  mimicry  was  there, 
what  harmonious  poses  and  what  marvellous 
costumes  ! 

The  Cambodian  ballet-girls,  when  dancing  in 
public,  wear  clothes  that  are  simply  fairy-like. 
They  have  bodices  of  silk  stitched  with  gold  and 
adorned  with  precious  stones.  These  bodices 
are  very  heavy  and  are  fitted  upon  them  and 
sewn  before  each  performance,  so  that  they  form 
as  it  were  a  new  skin  and  clearly  reveal  the 
undulations  of  the  body. 

The  dressers  take  two  or  three  hours  to  clothe 
the  dancers,  after  which  they  paint  the  girls' 
faces  and  deck  them  out  with  bracelets,  neck- 
laces and  rings  of  priceless  value.  Sometimes, 
also,  the  dancers'  fingers  are  slipped  into  long, 
bent,  golden  claws,  which  describe  harmonious 
curves  in  space. 

Lastly,  the  head-dress  consists  of  either  the 
traditional  'pnom — a  sort  of  pointed  hat,  all  of 
gold  and  fastened  on  by  clutches  that  grip  the 
head — or  a  wreath  of  enormous  flowers,  or  else 
of  a  pale-tinted  silk  handkerchief  rolled  low  over 
the  temples. 

The  dancers  and  their  dances  achieved,  as  may 
be  imagined,  no  small  success,  first  at  the  Elysee 
and  afterwards  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  where 
a  gala  performance  was  given,  in  the  open-air 
theatre  of  the  Pre  Catelan,  by  the  light  of  the 
electric  lamps.     Betweenwhiles,  they  took  drives 

325 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

through  Paris,  which  gave  rise  to  all  sorts  of 
astonished  and  enthusiastic  manifestations  on 
their  part,  much  to  the  delight  of  their  guides, 
for  they  had  the  mental  attitude  of  little  girls; 
and,  when,  after  a  week,  they  had  to  go  back 
to  Marseilles,  where  they  formed  the  principal 
attraction  at  the  Colonial  Exhibition,  their  despair 
was  something  immense.  It  was  as  much  as 
we  could  do  to  console  them  by  presenting  them 
all  with  mechanical  rabbits  and  unbreakable 
dolls. 

And  the  King,  once  more,  was  bored.  He  was 
so  thoroughly  bored  that,  a  few  days  after  the 
departure  of  his  ballet-girls,  he  resolved  to  go 
and  spend  a  couple  of  days  at  Nancy,  in  order 
to  see  a  dozen  or  two  young  Cambodians  who 
had  been  attending  the  local  industrial  school 
for  the  last  twelvemonth.  The  organizing  of 
this  visit  was  very  troublesome,  for  the  King 
had  acquired  a  taste  for  military  display  and 
insisted  upon  being  received  at  Nancy  with  full 
honours,  such  as  he  had  been  used  to  in  Paris. 
Worse  still,  the  trip  very  nearly  ended  in  dis- 
aster, entirely  through  Sisowath's  own  fault. 

The  inhabitants  of  Nancy,  amused  and  de- 
lighted by  the  show  of  Oriental  luxury  that  met 
their  eyes,  gave  the  King  an  enthusiastic  ovation 
far  in  excess  of  his  expectations.  His  gratitude 
was  such  that,  on  the  evening  of  his  arrival, 
he  took  it  into  his  head  to  manifest  his  delight 
by  flinging  handfuls  of  silver  through  the  windows 
of  the  Prefecture  to  the  crowd  that  stood  cheering 
826 


THE   KING   OF   CAMBODIA 

him  on  the  Place  Stanislas  !  The  reader  can 
picture  the  effect  of  this  beneficent  shower. 
Suddenly,  loud  cries  and  shouts  were  heard 
and  a  regular  battle  was  fought  in  front  of  the 
Prefecture,  for  one  and  all  wished  to  profit  by 
the  royal  largesse. 

I  at  once  rushed  up  to  the  King  and  begged 
him  to  stop  this  dangerous  game.  But  Sisowath, 
who  was  madly  diverted  by  the  sight,  positively 
refused  to  yield  to  my  entreaties.  He  even 
asked  to  have  a  thousand-franc  note  changed 
for  gold. 

Seeing  that  persuasion  was  of  no  avail,  I  took 
a  quick  and  bold  resolve.  I  had  him  removed 
from  the  window  by  force,  undeterred  by  the 
insults  with  which  he  overwhelmed  me  in  the 
Cambodian  tongue. 

But  I  had  not  yet  come  to  the  end  of  my 
emotions  ;  a  serio-comic  incident  followed  apace. 
Suddenly  evading  the  watchfulness  of  my  in- 
spectors, who  dared  not  detain  him  like  a  com- 
mon malefactor,  Sisowath  escaped,  darted  down 
the  stairs  four  steps  at  a  time,  opened  a  window 
on  the  ground-floor  and,  with  hoarse  cries,  began 
to  pitch  into  the  square  all  the  louis  d'or  which 
he  had  in  his  possession.  The  moment  he 
heard  us  coming,  quick  as  lightning  he  was  off 
and  flew  to  another  window.  For  a  quarter  of 
an  hour,  a  mad  steeple-chase  was  kept  up  through 
all  the  rooms  of  the  Prefecture,  amid  the  roars 
of  the  excited  crowd  in  the  streets. 

Fortunately,   the   King   soon   grew  tired   and 

327 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

accepted  his  defeat.  As  for  me,  I  naturally- 
looked  upon  my  disgrace  as  assured.  But  Siso- 
wath,  thank  goodness,  was  not  vindictive.  The 
next  morning,  he  gave  me  his  hand,  and,  burst- 
ing into  loud  laughter,  contented  himself  with 
saying  : 

"  Very  funny  !  " 


A  week  later  he  took  ship  at  Marseilles,  with 
his  court,  to  return  to  Cambodia.  When  I  said 
good-bye  to  him  on  the  deck  of  the  steamer,  he 
appeared  heart-broken  at  having  to  leave  our 
country.  Heart-broken,  too,  seemed  the  little 
dancing-girls  squatting  at  the  foot  of  the  mast, 
with  their  mechanical  rabbits  and  their  unbreak- 
able dolls — the  last  keepsake  to  remind  them 
of  their  stay  in  Paris — which  they  squeezed 
fondly  in  their  arms. 

When,  at  length,  the  hour  of  parting  had 
struck,  good  King  Sisowath,  greatly  moved, 
called  me  to  his  side  : 

"  Here,"  he  said,  "  Present  .  .  .  for  you." 

And  he  handed  me  a  parcel  done  up  in  a 
pink  silk  handkerchief. 

As  soon  as  I  was  on  shore,  I  hastened  to  open 
it  :  to  my  great  confusion,  it  contained  a  splendid 
sampot  made  of  fine  cloth  of  gold.  The  King 
of  Cambodia  had  presented  me  with  his  State 
breeches,  which  were  all  that  remained  to  me 
of  my  last  "  client "  and  of  my  Oriental  dreams ! 
328 


CHAPTER   XII 

QUEEN    VICTORIA 
1 

Had  I  listened  to  what  a  poet  has  so  well 
named  the  instincts  of  the  heart,  I  would  have 
inscribed  the  name  of  Queen  Victoria  at  the  head 
of  this  book.  Bonds  of  respectful  attachment 
and  fervent  gratitude  attach  me  to  her  for  all 
time.  She  was  gifted  in  the  highest  degree 
with  both  courage  and  dehcacy.  She  was  the 
personification  of  one  of  the  most  potent  qualities 
of  the  English  character  :  loyalty  in  friendship. 
Once  she  had  bestowed  her  confidence  upon  any 
one,  were  he  the  humblest  or  the  mightiest,  she 
continued  to  show  him  that  confidence,  in  all 
and  every  circumstance,  so  long  as  he  remained 
worthy  of  it. 

This  was  well  known ;  and  therefore  the  vener- 
able sovereign's  esteem  became  a  valuable  talis- 
man for  him  who  was  honoured  with  it.  I  may 
say  that,  for  over  twenty  years,  it  constituted 
my  real  recommendation  to  the  sovereigns  and 
princes  to  whose  persons  I  was  attached ;  and  that 
is  why  I  determined  to  conclude  this  volume  with 
my  recollections  of  the  lady  who,  to  no  small 

extent,   furnished   me   with  the   opportunity   of 

329 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

writing  it,  and  who  governs  my  reminiscences 
from  the  depths  of  an  already  distant  past,  even 
as  her  bowed  and  smiHng  image  beams  from  its 
gilt  frame  upon  the  other  portraits  that  surround 
me  as  I  write. 

Too  much,  of  course,  has  been  written  about 
Queen  Victoria  for  me  to  aspire  to  set  up  as  the 
historian  of  her  reign  and  life.  Other  pens, 
endowed  with  greater  authority  than  mine,  have 
told  us  of  the  momentous  influence  which  she 
wielded,  for  half  a  century,  over  the  destinies  of 
the  nation  of  which  she  always  remained  the  most 
vivid  expression  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  noblest 
and  most  respected  symbol;  they  have  told  us 
how,  little  by  little,  her  single  efforts  tended  to 
develop  into  her  universal  fame.  Lastly,  her 
own  correspondence,  published  by  the  pious 
thought  of  her  son,  the  late  King  Edward,  has 
revealed  to  us,  in  a  striking  fashion,  the  inmost 
recesses  of  her  heart  as  a  woman  and  a  queen. 

My  ambition,  therefore,  will  be  limited  to  re- 
calling the  sovereign  whom  I  knew  in  the  decline 
of  her  life,  the  queen  who  was  known  only  to  the 
few  privileged  persons  admitted  to  her  family 
circle,  the  woman  who,  with  so  much  simplicity, 
with  so  much  candour  and  indulgent  kindness, 
personified,  in  all  the  grace  of  her  secret  charm, 
the  traditional  type  of  ''  the  dear  old  lady." 

She  had  made  it  her  habit,  as  everybody  knows, 
to  spend  a  few  weeks  of  each  year  in  France. 
The  state  of  her  health  was  not,  as  I  at  first 
thought,  the  only  reason  that  induced  her  to 
330 


QUEEN   VICTORIA 

make  this  annual  journey.    She  loved  our  country 
not  as  other  sovereigns  do,  from  politeness  or 
because  she  found  it  easier  there  than  elsewhere 
to  rest  from  the  fatigues  of  official  life  :  she  loved 
it  with  a  profound  and  sincere  affection,  to  which 
a  curious  sentimentality,   a   sort  of  mysterious 
superstition,  contributed  its  share.     Strange  and 
inconsistent  though  it  may  seem,  this  sovereign, 
whose  strict  education,  whose  essentially  Protes- 
tant attitude  of  mind,  whose  ideas  of  nationality 
ought  rather  to  have  set  her  against  us,  relished 
the  Latin  side  of  our  character,  delighted  in  our 
easily-aroused  displays  of  enthusiasm,   admired 
our  artistic  faculties  and,  above  all,  appreciated 
our  climate,   to   which   she   attributed   curative 
virtues  far  above  the  common.   The  moment  she 
arrived  among  us,  she  considered  herself  at  home. 
Her  eyes  beamed  with  pleasure,  her  face  lit  up 
with  content ;  and  she  thought  more  of  the  salute 
of  a  station-master  who  recognized  her  or  of  a 
nosegay  presented  to  her  by  a  peasant-woman 
than  of  the  homage  paid  her  by  any  of  her  fellow- 
sovereigns. 

The  mere  thought  that  political  events  might 
interfere  with  her  annual  holiday  was  enough 
to  cause  her  acute  distress.  I  remember,  for 
instance,  the  time  of  the  unfortunate  Fashoda 
incident,  which  happened  just  at  the  moment 
when  she  was  about  to  start  for  Nice.  An  ill- 
disposed  section  of  the  press  had  written  to  cry 
out  against  the  journey;  and  the  Queen  caused 
her  hesitation  and  anxiety  to  be  brought  to  my 

331 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

knowledge.  Realizing  the  great  harm  which  her 
absence — necessarily  involving  the  absence  of  a 
large  number  of  her  subjects — was  likely  to  do  to 
our  Mediterranean  coast,  I  instituted  a  summary 
enquiry  into  the  feeling  of  the  population,  as  a 
result  of  which  I  strongly  advised  Her  Majesty 
to  make  no  alteration  in  her  plans.  Fortunately, 
I  was  not  alone  in  this  opinion :  I  found  a  valuable 
ally  in  the  person  of  the  late  Lord  Salisbury,  who 
was  prime  minister  at  the  time.  He  never 
wearied  of  repeating : 

"  It  is  more  than  ever  essential  that  the  Queen 
should  go  to  France  this  year." 

She  came.  She  was  a  little  nervous  at  first, 
but  was  soon  reassured  at  perceiving  that  the 
people  showed  her  the  same  respect  and  the  same 
deference  as  before. 

A  few  days  later,  when  talking  with  the 
Empress  Eugenie  about  the  Anglo-French  dispute, 
which  had  then  reached  its  most  acute  phase,  she 
said : 

"  If  a  war  were  to  break  out  between  France 
and  England,  I  would  ask  God  in  His  goodness 
to  let  me  die  first !  " 

I  am  certain  that  these  beautiful  and  touching 
words  were  the  genuine  expression  of  an  absolute 
conviction. 

She  thought  of  us  again  at  the  end,  when,  a  few 
hours  before  expiring,  in  that  faint  gleam  of  hope 
which  lights  up  so  many  death-beds,  she  ex- 
claimed : 

"  Oh,  if  I  were  only  at  Nice,  I  should  recover  !  " 
332 


QUEEN   VICTORIA 

By  a  diplomatic,  but  quite  useless  fiction,  the 
Queen  always  travelled  in  France  under  the  title 
of  Countess  of  Balmoral.  Of  course,  this  incog- 
nito, to  which  she  attached  great  importance,  did 
not  deceive  a  soul,  inasmuch  as  her  movements 
were  not  allowed  to  pass  exactly  unnoticed.  The 
reader  can  judge  for  himself.  As  soon  as  her 
departure  for  the  south  was  settled,  the  Foreign 
Office  advised  our  Ministry  for  Foreign  Affairs, 
which,  in  its  turn,  informed  the  minister  of  the 
interior,  who  at  once  wrote  to  tell  me  that  I  must 
hold  myself  in  readiness  to  attend  the  august 
traveller.  She  used  to  arrive  at  Cherbourg  in  the 
evening,  on  board  her  yacht  Victoria  and  Albert, 
and  did  not  land  until  the  next  morning,  when 
she  took  the  train  waiting  for  her  on  the  quay. 
The  royal  train  consisted  of  seven  coaches,  two 
of  which  were  the  Queen's  private  property,  and 
was  both  imposing  and  magnificent.  The  Queen's 
saloon-carriage,  padded  throughout  in  blue  silk, 
presented,  in  its  somewhat  antiquated  splendour, 
the  exact  appearance  of  an  old-fashioned  apart- 
ment in  a  provincial  town.  Everything  about  it 
was  heavy,  large  and  comfortable.  So  that  the 
Queen's  sleep  might  not  be  disturbed,  there  were 
no  brakes  to  the  wheels;  and  the  carriage  was 
swung  to  perfection.  Moreover,  the  train  never 
travelled  faster  than  thirty-five  miles  an  hour  by 
day  or  twenty-five  miles  at  night.  It  also  stopped 
for  some  time  during  meals  and  between  eight 
and  nine  in  the  morning,  to  enable  the  Queen  to 
dress  in  comfort.     Lastly,  it  was  pulled  up  when- 

333 


MY  ROYAL  CLIENTS 

ever  Her  Majesty  desired  to  receive  some  person 
of  distinction  or  when  dispatches  reached  her 
from  the  government.  I  used  to  feel  as  though 
I  were  travelhng  in  a  steam  bath-chair;  and  I 
must  confess  that,  in  this  rolUng  palace,  the 
journey  never  appeared  to  me  either  very  long  or 
very  tiring.  Besides,  it  had  the  advantage  of 
enabling  us  to  admire  the  landscape  at  our 
leisure. 

As  soon  as  the  Queen  reached  her  destination, 
a  serious  responsibility  devolved  upon  those  who, 
like  myself,  had  it  as  their  duty  to  protect  the 
royal  residence  without  making  a  great  display 
of  force,  in  fact  almost  without  visible  show. 
Never,  indeed,  was  the  police  service  around 
an  illustrious  personage  organized  with  greater 
reserve  and  discretion.  Never  was  monarch 
better  guarded  in  his  palace  than  was  Queen 
Victoria  in  an  hotel  quite  easily  accessible  to  the 
public.  In  fact,  one  might  have  thought  that 
no  precautions  whatever  had  been  taken ;  and  yet 
the  orders  were  explicit  and  it  was  really  im- 
possible for  any  one  to  enter  the  space  under  my 
supervision  without  first  stating  his  business. 

Soldiers  mounted  guard,  in  smart  sentry- 
boxes,  at  the  entrance  of  the  hotel.  The  guard 
turned  out  to  salute  the  Queen  twice  a  day  only  : 
when  she  started  on  her  long  daily  drive  and 
when  she  returned.  It  was  also  drawn  up  in 
force  on  the  occasion  of  certain  official  receptions 
and  on  the  arrival  of  other  foreign  sovereigns  who 
came  to  call  on  their  venerable  cousin  of  England. 
334 


QUEEN   VICTORIA 

An  amusing  mishap  nearly  occurred,  one  day, 
in  this  connection.  I  was  going  to  my  post  in 
the  afternoon  and  thought  I  observed  an  un- 
wonted animation  around  the  royal  hotel.  I 
quickened  my  pace  to  discover  the  cause ;  and  my 
stupefaction  was  great  when  I  saw  the  guard 
of  honour  standing  under  arms  at  the  entrance. 

My  functions  enabled  me  to  know,  day  by  day, 
I  might  almost  say,  hour  by  hour,  what  was  set 
down  on  the  programme  of  the  Queen's  receptions. 
Now  on  that  day  there  was  nothing,  to  my 
knowledge,  that  seemed  to  warrant  the  calling 
out  of  the  guard ;  and  I  wondered  what  could  have 
happened  during  my  brief  absence. 
I  hurried  up  to  the  officer  on  duty : 
"  What  is  the  matter  ?  "  I  asked.  "  Why 
have  you  turned  out  ?  Whom  are  you  going  to 
salute  ?  " 

"  I  really  don't  know,  M.  Paoli,"  said  the 
officer,  who,  in  his  turn,  was  astonished  at  my 
surprise.  "  M.  Dosse,  the  Queen's  courier,  sent 
down  word  to  us.  They  are  expecting  a  crowned 
head,  they  say." 

What  could  the  mystery  mean  ?  I  at  once 
sent  for  the  Queen's  courier : 

"  Whom    on    earth    are    you    expecting  ?  "    I 
asked,  pointing  to  the  men  drawn  up  in  line. 
"  Why,  don't  you  know  ?  "  he  replied. 
"  I  do  not." 

"  Well,  it's  the  Empress  Eugenie  !  " 
I  gave  a  jump : 

"  What  1  "    I    exclaimed,    in   dismay.     "  You 

335 


MY  ROYAL  CLIENTS 

want  the  soldiers  of  the  repubhc  to  give  the 
salute  to  the  ex-Empress  of  the  French  ?  " 

"  I  confess,"  said  M.  Dosse,  "  that  I  did  not 
look  at  the  matter  from  that  point  of  view." 

"  I  dare  say.  .  .  .  But,  if  you  lost  no  time 
before,  there  is  still  less  time  to  lose  now.  .  .  . 
Dismiss,  dismiss  as  quick  as  you  can  !  "  I  cried 
to  the  officer. 

I  was  only  just  in  time.  The  soldiers  were 
not  yet  out  of  sight  when  the  Empress  arrived  : 

"  You  seem  very  much  excited,  M.  Paoli," 
she  said  to  me,  with  a  smile. 

I  told  her  the  reason. 

"  Oh,  how  glad  I  am  that  you  avoided  that 
incident !  "  she  exclaimed.  "  The  newspapers 
would  have  been  sure  to  hold  me  responsible; 
and  my  position  in  France,  which  is  already  so 
delicate,  would  only  have  suffered  in  con- 
sequence." 

As  for  me,  I  am  convinced  that  people  would 
not  have  failed  to  see  in  this  simple  misunder- 
standing a  political  plot,  an  attempt  to  restore 
the  imperial  family,  or  goodness  knows  what ! 


The  Queen's  household,  when  she  came  to 
France,  consisted  almost  invariably  of  the  same 
persons.  Their  tact  and  amiability  have  left  a 
lasting  and  charming  impression  upon  people 
who,  like  myself,  were  called  upon  to  see  a  great 
deal  of  them.  Unquestionably,  the  first  and 
336 


QUEEN   VICTORIA 

most  important  of  them  all  was  General  Sir  Henry 
Ponsonby,  who,  for  a  very  long  period,  filled  the 
most  arduous  offices  at  the  court  and  who  occupied 
a  special  place  in  Her  Majesty's  confidence.  At 
once  active  and  intelligent,  open  and  discreet, 
he  combined  the  functions  of  keeper  of  the  privy 
purse  and  private  secretary  to  the  Queen.  When 
he  died,  the  responsibilities  of  his  post  were 
considered  so  heavy  that  it  was  divided  and  the 
privy  purse  and  private  secretary  were  appointed 
separately.  Lieutenant- colonel  Sir  Fleetwood 
Edwards  was  invested  with  the  first  office  and 
Lieutenant-colonel  Sir  Arthur  Bigge,  now  Lord 
Stamfordham,  with  the  second.  One  of  the  two 
always  accompanied  the  Queen  to  Nice  and  was 
seconded  either  by  Colonel,  now  Sir  Arthur 
Davidson,  or  by  Lieutenant,  now  Lieutenant- 
colonel  Sir  Frederick  Ponsonby,  son  of  the 
general.  Both  these  gentlemen  were  equerries  to 
Her  Majesty.  Lieutenant-colonel  Sir  William 
Carington,  on  the  other  hand,  fulfilled  the  func- 
tions of  controller  of  the  little  court  at  Nice,  while 
Sir  James  Reid,  that  delightful  Scotsman,  whom 
I  have  mentioned  in  the  chapter  on  King  Edward 
VII.,  occupied  the  position  of  private  physician- 
in-ordinary  to  Her  Majesty. 

Among  the  ladies  of  the  bedchamber  who 
succeeded  one  another  in  attendance  upon  the 
Queen  were  Lady  Southampton,  Lady  Churchill, 
the  Countess  of  Antrim  and  Countess  Lytton; 
while  Miss  Harriet  Phipps,  the  bedchamber- 
woman-in-ordinary,  never  left  the  sovereign. 

z  337 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

In  addition  to  these  court  dignitaries,  a  numer- 
ous staff  of  servants  used  to  accompany  the  Queen 
on  her  journeys  to  the  Riviera.  It  consisted  of  a 
first  waiting- woman,  assisted  by  six  dressers;  a 
French  chef,  M.  Ferry,  with  three  or  four  Heu- 
tenants  and  a  whole  regiment  of  scuUions  under 
his  orders;  a  coachman,  an  outrider  and  a  dozen 
grooms  and  stablemen,  for  the  Queen  always  took 
her  horses  abroad  with  her  and  never  drove  out 
except  in  her  own  carriage. 

The  suite  was  completed  by  the  small  troop  of 
Indian  servants,  who  preferred  to  form  a  little 
set  apart  from  the  others.  These  impenetrable, 
impassive  and  supercilious  persons  were  very  fine- 
looking  fellows,  clad  in  big  turbans  and  wonderful 
cashmere  garments  of  dazzling  hues.  They  acted 
as  a  sort  of  attentive  and  silent  body-guard  to  the 
Queen  and  looked  as  though  they  had  been  struck 
dumb  by  the  almost  religious  importance  of  their 
duties.  They  enjoyed  a  few  privileges,  such  as 
that  of  practising  all  the  rites  of  their  creed  with- 
out restrictions,  were  thoroughly  accustomed  to 
discipline  and  were  faithful  and  devoted  to 
their  sovereign  in  life  and  death.  The  Queen 
also  brought  with  her  a  Highland  gillie,  who 
wore  the  picturesque  costume  of  his  native 
land. 

All  these  servants  had  a  great  deal  to  do, 
especially  on  the  arrival  and  departure  of  the 
royal  party,  for  the  Queen  always  travelled  with 
nearly  all  the  furniture  of  her  bedroom,  including 
the  bed  and  bedding,  together  with  her  own  linen 
338 


QUEEN   VICTORIA 

and   plate  and  all  those  charming  and  trifling 
knick-knacks  which  adorn  English  houses. 

Lastly,  any  residence  occupied  by  the  sovereign 
was  always  filled  with  magnificent  flowers. 

The  Queen,  as  everybody  knows,  preferred  to 
stay  at  an  hotel  rather  than  a  villa,  for  the  simple 
reason  that  she  required  a  large  number  of  spacious 
rooms.  In  the  course  of  the  five  visits  which  she 
paid  to  Nice,  she  occupied  first  the  Grand  Hotel 
at  Cimiez  and  then  the  Excelsior  Hotel  Regina. 
The  first  was  hired  at  40,000  francs  for  six  weeks, 
the  second  at  80,000  francs  for  two  months. 

As  may  readily  be  imagined,  a  "  customer  " 
of  this  sprt  was  an  exceptional  windfall  for  the 
district ;  and  accordingly  everything  was  done  to 
make  her  stay  pleasant  and  to  satisfy  her  least 
wishes.  For  instance,  the  local  authorities  did 
not  hesitate  to  give  instructions  for  important 
works  to  improve  the  roads  of  the  country-side; 
and  the  landed  proprietors  hastened  to  offer  the 
illustrious  traveller  the  use  of  their  gardens  and 
even  to  knock  a  hole  in  their  walls  when  these 
adjoined  the  grounds  of  the  hotel,  so  that  she 
might  feel  at  home  wherever  she  went.  This 
charming  illusion  was  all  the  more  easy  to  realize 
inasmuch  as  she  was  surrounded  by  a  part  of  her 
furniture  from  Osborne  or  Balmoral,  from  the 
handsome  Venetian  mirror  that  adorned  her 
boudoir  and  the  little  rosewood  writing-table, 
laden  with  photographs  and  papers,  that  occupied 
its  usual  place  in  her  bedroom  window,  down  to 
the  mahogany  bedstead,  that  old-fashioned,  high, 
Z2  339 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

narrow   bedstead   which    had   accompanied    her 
on  all  her  journeys  during  the  past  forty  years. 

The  days  spent  by  the  Queen  in  this  familiar 
and  sumptuous  setting  were  regulated  with  a 
great  amount  of  method;  and,  notwithstanding 
that  this  annual  visit  was  looked  upon  as  a  period 
of  holiday  and  rest,  I  felt  as  though  I  were  spend- 
ing those  few  weeks  in  the  heart  of  a  curiously 
busy  hive,  so  numerous  and  constant  did  every- 
body's occupations  seem  to  be. 

The  Queen  usually  rose  at  nine  o'clock,  pro- 
ceeded to  dress  and  had  her  breakfast,  the  con- 
stituents of  which  varied  every  morning.  She 
would  take  coffee,  chocolate  or  tea,  with  which 
were  served  rolls,  a  dish  of  eggs,  fried  fish,  grilled 
bacon  and  Cambridge  sausages,  things  which  she 
hardly  touched. 

Next  came  the  hour  for  correspondence.  Her 
Majesty  regularly  received  the  Foreign  Office 
messengers  who  brought  the  official  documents 
for  her  signature  and  the  ministerial  reports. 
She  carefully  read  through  all  the  administrative 
papers  and  exchanged  a  considerable  number  of 
cipher  telegrams  with  her  government;  and, 
as  she  liked  answering  by  return  all  letters  that 
required  replies,  her  two  secretaries  were  kept 
very  busy.  Add  to  this  that  she  received  daily 
an  innumerable  quantity  of  begging  letters,  which 
were  handed  to  me  in  case  they  needed  looking 
into.  Most  of  these  missives  eventually  found 
their  way  into  the  waste-paper  basket.  I  have, 
however,  kept  a  few  that  form  a  counterpart  to 
340 


QUEEN   VICTORIA 

those  which  I  collected  when  I  was  with  the  Shah 
of  Persia  and  which  I  mentioned  in  a  previous 
chapter.  They  displayed  the  same  methods, 
the  same  tricks,  ingenious  or  ingenuous  as  the 
case  might  be,  and  especially  an  amazing  amount 
of  imagination."^ 

Some  had  their  appeals  written  by  children, 
hoping  thereby  to  produce  a  more  melting  mood 
in  the  recipient;  others  employed  threats  or 
sarcasm.  The  latter  affected  the  most  complete 
confidence  in  the  success  of  their  enterprise,  as 
for  instance,  an  old  man  of  eighty-two,  who 
wrote  : 

"  How  painful  and  repulsive  it  would  be  to 
me,  who  am  so  near  the  grave,  to  have  to  alter 
my  high  opinion  of  the  royal  magnanimity, 
generosity  and  benevolence  !  " 

Others  made  a  display  of  pessimism  : 

"  If  Your  Majesty  does  not  lend  an  ear  to  my 
entreaty,  there  will  be  no  resource  left  to  me  but 
to  put  an  end  to  my  life  !  " 

I  say  nothing  of  the  constant  appeals  for 
subscriptions  to  charitable  institutions  and  to 
enterprises  of  the  most  diverse  and  sometimes 
fantastic  kinds.  Nevertheless,  special  mention 
must  be  made  of  the  madmen.  A  certain  Comte 
de  C invited  the  Queen  to  order  her  govern- 
ment to  replace  him  in  possession  of  "his 
Egyptian  crown."  Another  lunatic  believed  him- 
self simply  to  be  the  son  of  the  Queen  of  England 

341 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

and  suddenly  took  it  into  his  head  to  assert 
his  rights,  I  am  bound  to  say,  in  exceedingly 
respectful  terms  : 

"  Madam  and  dear  Mother, 

"  I  hear  that  you  are  in  France  at  present 
and  I  therefore  hasten  to  write  and  ask  you  to 
give  a  little  thought  to  me,  your  son,  whom  you 
abandoned  in  India.  I  cannot  go  on  living  in 
Africa,  where  I  suffer  all  sorts  of  wretchedness. 
Please  send  me  some  financial  assistance,  to  enable 
me  to  live  as  I  ought  to  live,  that  is  to  say,  as  a 
son  of  the  Queen  of  England  ought  to  live. 

"  Hoping,  dear  Mother,  that  you  will  have  the 
kindness  to  satisfy  my  request,  I  send  you  a 
thousand  kisses. 

"  Your  son,  who  still  loves  you, 

"  D BEN  A , 

"  Oran  (Algeria):' 

These  few  examples,  which  I  could  easily  have 
multiplied,  are  enough  to  give  an  idea  of  the 
importance,  the  diversity  and  the  eccentricity  of 
Her  Majesty's  "  official  "  mail-bags  during  her 
visits  to  our  country.  There  was  no  replying  to 
all  these  letters  :  it  was  really  impossible.  I 
remember  that,  one  day,  one  of  the  Queen's 
secretaries  received  the  following  letter  from  a 
dissatisfied  correspondent  : 

"  My  next-door  neighbour,  who  is  something 
of  a  scandal-monger,  insists  that  Her  Majesty 
342 


QUEEN   VICTORIA 

Queen  Victoria  graciously  awarded  me  a  hand- 
some and  generous  grant  and  that  you,  sir,  have 
pocketed  the  amount  by  inadvertence." 

We  preferred,  I  confess,  chaff  and  even  insults 
to  the  despairing  epistles  which  generally  ended 
in  a  threat  of  suicide.  This  means  of  intimidation, 
however  stale,  impressed  me  sometimes,  when  I 
thought  I  recognized  an  accent  of  sincerity  in 
the  tone  of  the  letter.  I  would  send  one  of  my 
inspectors  to  the  address  given,  so  that  he  might 
warn  me  if  there  were  any  danger  of  a  catastrophe, 
and  each  time  he  came  back  and  told  me  that  he 
had  found  the  would-be  suicide  full  of  the  most 
excellent  intentions  towards  life. 


But  to  return  to  the  daily  employment  of  Her 
Majesty's  time.  When  the  Queen  had  finished 
her  morning's  work,  that  is  to  say,  at  about  eleven 
o'clock,  she  put  on  a  silk  cloak  and  a  large  garden- 
hat  to  take  the  place  of  the  white-muslin  cap 
which  she  wore  indoors.  Then,  leaning  on  her 
stick  and  on  the  arm  of  one  of  her  faithful  Hindoos, 
she  went  down  the  steps  and  took  her  seat  in  the 
little  carriage  drawn  by  the  famous  grey  donkey, 
called  Jacquot.  Jacquot  played  a  part  of  no  little 
importance  at  the  English  court.  He  had,  in 
fact,  been  raised  to  the  dignity  of  a  favourite  and 
filled  his  office  with  becoming  modesty.  In  no 
way  elated  by  his  unexpected  good-fortune,  he 
punctiliously  performed  the  duties  of  his  post, 

343 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

which  consisted  in  taking  the  Queen  through 
the  gardens  of  the  various  residences  occupied 
by  Her  Majesty.  Docile  and  obedient  to  his 
royal  mistress's  slightest  whim,  he  stopped, 
started,  waited,  as  the  Queen  might  wish, 
and  never  showed  the  least  impatience  when 
the  royal  children  pulled  his  tail  or  sent  their 
shrill  cries  down  the  long  funnel  of  his  ears.  I 
myself  felt  a  fond  affection  for  Jacquot,  no  doubt 
because  I  knew  him  to  be  my  fellow-countryman 
— he  was  a  Frenchman — and  also  because  of  the 
picturesque  story  of  his  life.  He  might  in  fact 
have  written  his  memoirs,  like  the  immortal 
donkey  in  Mme.  de  Segur's  book,  and  described 
how,  one  fine  day,  he  was  transferred  from  the 
barn  of  a  poor  farm  in  the  Haute-Savoie  to  the 
royal  mews  at  Buckingham  Palace. 

It  was  at  the  time  of  the  Queen's  stay  at  Aix- 
les-Bains  in  1892.  She  already  found  a  great 
difficulty  in  walking  and  complained  that  she  had 
no  means  of  locomotion  fit  for  easy  and  immediate 
use  and  requiring  no  great  preparation.  Well, 
one  afternoon,  as  she  was  driving  by  the  edge  of 
the  Lac  du  Bourget,  she  met  a  peasant  jogging 
along  in  a  small  cart  drawn  by  a  donkey.  The 
animal  was  still  young,  but  so  thin,  so  very  thin, 
and  so  ill-groomed  that  he  was  very  little  to  look 
at.  The  Queen  stopped  her  carriage  and  beckoned 
to  the  fellow  : 

"  Would  you  care  to  sell  me  your  donkey  ?  " 
she  asked. 

Not  knowing  to  whom  he  was  speaking,  the 
344 


QUEEN   VICTORIA 

peasant  replied,  with  the  usual  distrust  which 
country-people  entertain  for  those  who  come  from 
the  towns  : 

"  All  depends." 

"  How  much  did  you  pay  for  him  ?  "  asked  the 
Queen. 

"  A  hundred  francs  .  .  .  and  he  was  cheap  at 
the  price." 

"  I'll  give  you  two  hundred.  .  .  .  Will  you  take 
it?" 

The  peasant  pretended  to  hesitate.  I  said,  in 
my  turn  : 

"  You  can  buy  two  donkeys  with  that." 

He  at  last  made  up  his  mind.  The  bargain  was 
struck;  and  the  donkey  became  the  Queen's 
property  and  was  duly  washed,  curry-combed, 
groomed  and  generally  smartened  up.  Above 
all,  he  was  better  fed.  Soon  after,  he  was  put  to 
draw  the  Queen  along  the  little  roads  and  narrow 
walks  which  her  carriage  could  not  enter. 
Thenceforth,  Jacquot,  as  he  was  christened, 
led  an  easy,  gentle  and  agreeable  life;  for  the 
Queen  doted  on  animals  and  insisted  that  the 
greatest  care  should  be  taken  of  all  the  horses  in 
her  stables,  without  distinction. 

When  the  Queen  was  about  to  return  to  Savoy, 
in  1893,  it  was  decided  that  Jacquot  should  be 
taken  with  her  on  the  journey.  On  the  day  of  his 
arrival  at  Aix,  the  rogue  proved  that  he  had  a 
good  memory.  He  broke  loose  from  the  waggon 
in  which  he  was  carried,  sniffed  the  air  of  his 
native  land  with  delight,  took  his  bearings  and 

345 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

scampered  away  before  any  one  could  lay  a  hand 
upon  him,  making  straight  for  the  stable  where 
he  had  been  so  well  looked  after  in  the  previous 
year. 

The  Queen,  when  she  heard  the  story,  laughed 
and  said  to  me  : 

"  You  will  have  to  change  that  French  maxim 
of  yours  which  says,  '  As  silly  as  a  donkey  !  '  " 

Jacquot,  in  fact,  managed,  before  attaining 
middle  age,  to  secure  for  himself  a  career  which 
many  a  court  functionary  might  have  envied. 
Pampered,  well-treated  and  respected,  he  retired 
into  private  life  some  years  before  the  Queen's 
death  and  ended  his  days  at  Windsor,  where  he 
was  treated  as  the  equal  of  any  thoroughbred. 

His  place  was  taken  by  a  pony  and  then  by 
another  donkey ;  and  the  Queen,  who  always  felt 
a  grateful  kindness  for  her  first  servant,  perpetu- 
ated his  memory  by  calling  all  his  successors  by 
the  name  of  Jacquot. 

When  the  Queen  returned  to  the  hotel  from  her 
morning  drive  at  half-past  one,  she  went  straight 
to  the  dining-room  and  did  honour  to  the  luncheon 
which  to  her  represented  the  chief  repast  of  the 
day.  Then  came  the  afternoon  drive — this  time 
in  a  landau — which  generally  lasted  until  night- 
fall. 

Dinner  was  seldom  served  before  nine  o'clock; 
but,  at  six  o'clock,  a  sort  of  side-table  was  laid 
in  the  dining-room,  in  the  Russian  manner,  with 
this  difference,  that,  instead  of  zakusky,  there  was 
a  plentiful  supply  of  cold  meats,  such  as  joints 
346 


QUEEN   VICTORIA 

of  beef  and  hams,  to  say  nothing  of  clear  chicken- 
soup  in  a  jelHfied  form.  The  cooking,  however, 
was  invariably  French,  with  the  one  exception 
of  an  excellent  dish  prepared  by  the  Hindoo 
cook. 

The  evening  was  finished  around  the  lamp  in 
the  little  royal  drawing-room.  The  Queen  adored 
music  and  loved  to  recall  the  distant  period  when, 
as  a  newly-married  bride,  she  used  to  sing  duets 
with  the  Prince  Consort  to  Mendelssohn's  ac- 
companiment. Her  taste  in  musical  matters 
included  in  an  equal  admiration  the  serene 
beauty  of  a  melody  by  Gliick  and  the  expressive 
sentimentality  of  an  Italian  romance;  and  she 
w^ould  ask  Princess  Henry  of  Battenberg,  who  is  a 
skilled  pianist,  to  sit  down  and  give  her  a  few 
selections  from  her  favourite  composers. 

Occasionally,  the  Queen  sent  for  some  great 
artist  passing  through  Nice  to  be  presented  and 
invited  him  to  play  to  her.  Thus  Puccini  and 
Leoncavallo  had  the  honour  of  performing  their 
works  before  the  august  sovereign ;  and  our  own 
poor  Francois  Thome  also  received  a  most  flatter- 
ing welcome  at  her  hands.  Then,  again,  I  have 
had  the  opportunity,  in  the  royal  boudoir,  of 
applauding  the  famous  choristers  of  the  Russian 
Imperial  Chapel,  who  came  one  year  to  give 
concerts  at  Nice.  .  .  .  Quintettes,  quartettes, 
violinists,  harpers,  mandolinists,  all  alike,  pro- 
vided they  could  give  proof  of  real  talent,  were 
sure  of  finding  an  attentive  and  delighted  ear  at 

the  Hotel  Regina. 

347 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

There  were  evening  concerts;  there  were  also 
morning  serenades.  We  lived  in  an  atmosphere 
of  music  !  The  morning  serenades  were  provided 
by  the  Neapolitan  strollers,  those  wandering 
singers  and  guitar-players,  who  so  picturesquely 
bring  home  to  one  the  sun  of  Italy  and  who,  in 
many  cases,  are  gifted  with  admirable  voices. 
The  Queen  liked  their  songs  and  was  amused  by 
their  animated  gestures.  The  whole  brotherhood 
of  strummers  and  scrapers  and  garden  Carusos 
knew  of  her  partiality  and  of  the  generous  fee  that 
awaited  them ;  and  every  morning,  at  the  stroke 
of  ten,  some  of  them  would  be  seen  entering  the 
grounds.  They  crept  stealthily  to  a  spot  just  under 
the  royal  balcony,  where  for  an  hour  at  a  time, 
they  spun  out  their  Vorrei  morir  and  their  Funi- 
culi, junicula  !  with  all  the  fervour  that  consumes 
them,  their  eyes — such  eyes  ! — fixed  upon  the 
window  behind  which  a  curtain  rustled  and  was 
sometimes  drawn  to  allow  a  kindly  and  approving 
smile  to  fall  upon  the  floods  of  melody  and  the 
vigorous  chest-notes  below. 

Still,  despite  the  pleasure  which  she  found  in 
listening  to  the  street-musicians,  the  Queen  was 
passionately  interested  in  the  higher  manifest- 
ations of  the  art  and  held  our  national  celebri- 
ties in  great  esteem.  M.  Saint-Saens  could,  I 
think,  tell  of  the  flattering  reception  of  which  he 
was  the  object  each  time  that  he  was  invited  to 
Windsor  or  London  and  of  the  delicate  attentions 
which  the  Queen  was  pleased  to  lavish  on  him. 
I  also  remember  the  great  impression  made  upon 
348 


QUEEN   VICTORIA 

her  by  the  voice  and  acting  of  Mme.  Sara  Bern- 
hardt when  she  saw  the  illustrious  tragedian  for 
the  first  time.  It  was  at  Nice,  in  the  spring  of 
1897.  The  Queen  was  at  the  Hotel  Excelsior  and 
sent  to  ask  Mme.  Bernhardt,  who  was  giving  a 
series  of  performances  at  Nice,  to  do  her  the 
pleasure  of  playing  before  her.  The  actress 
agreed  to  come  and  play  in  Andre  Theuriet's 
Jean-Marie.  The  arrangements  were  made  forth- 
with. A  stage  was  improvised  in  the  large  draw- 
ing-room of  the  hotel  by  placing  a  dais  at  one  end 
of  the  room;  screens  took  the  place  of  scenery; 
and  the  wonderful  artist  that  evening  achieved 
one  of  the  most  notable  successes  of  her  career, 
though  she  had  an  audience  of  but  thirty  or  forty 
to  applaud  her.  Immediately  after  the  fall  of  the 
curtain,  the  Queen  sent  for  Mme.  Bernhardt, 
congratulated  her  warmly,  fastened  one  of  her 
bracelets  round  the  artist's  wrist  and  presented 
her  with  a  photograph  with  a  gracious  inscription. 
In  return,  Sara  Bernhardt  wrote  a  line  or  two  in 
the  royal  album ;  and  the  Empress  of  India  seemed 
to  set  the  greatest  store  by  the  autograph  of  the 
queen  of  art. 

Outside  these  distractions,  which  were  com- 
paratively rare,  and  when,  for  one  reason  or 
another,  there  was  no  music  in  the  evening,  the 
venerable  Queen  took  refuge  in  reading.  She 
would  have  a  few  pages  read  to  her  of  a  modern 
novel,  or  an  article  in  some  magazine  of  which 
the  title  or  the  signature  had  aroused  her  atten- 
tion. 

849 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  those  around  her 
had  adopted  the  habit  of  carefully  hiding  from  her 
anything  which  appeared  in  print  of  a  nature 
likely  to  displease  or  sadden  her.  This  explains 
her  candid  and  imperturbable  optimism  :  she 
believed  in  all  sincerity  in  the  goodness  of  the 
world  in  general;  and  the  touching  conspiracy, 
by  removing  from  her  mind  all  reasons  to  doubt 
that  goodness  and  allowing  her  to  look  upon 
humanity  only  under  its  most  comforting  aspect, 
ensured  her  tranquillity  and  serenity  until  her 
dying  day.  Those  engaged  in  the  conspiracy 
ended  by  themselves  sharing  that  tranquillity 
and  serenity,  which  were  reflected  in  the  journal 
in  which  she  was  accustomed  every  evening,  when 
alone  in  her  bedroom,  to  jot  down  the  impres- 
sions and  the  most  insignificant  incidents  of  her 
happy  and  peaceful  life. 


I  have  said  that  Queen  Victoria's  afternoons 
were  mainly  devoted  to  long  drives  in  the  country. 
These  drives  always  caused  me  a  certain  anxiety. 
True,  I  had  the  greatest  confidence  in  the  good 
feeling  of  the  inhabitants  of  Nice.  On  the  other 
hand,  I  knew  that  a  fluctuating  and  cosmopolitan 
population,  such  as  that  of  this  large  town,  could 
easily  contain  disorderly  elements.  Knowing 
beforehand  the  road  which  the  royal  carriage  was 
to  take,  I  used  to  send  well-trained  detectives 
to  go  on  ahead.  These  generally  adopted  the 
350 


QUEEN   VICTORIA 

dress  and  manners  of  tourists ;  and  along  the  road 
itself  I  posted  the  men  at  my  disposal,  men  who 
commonly  served  as  rural  policemen  and  who, 
unobserved  by  the  public,  informed  me  from 
place  to  place  of  anything  that  it  was  useful  for 
me  to  know.  Thanks  to  these  simple  precautions 
and  without  any  further  display  of  force,  the 
Queen  was  able  to  go  for  innumerable  drives 
during  her  five  stays  at  Nice,  not  one  of 
which  was  ever  spoilt  by  the  slightest  vexatious 
incident. 

The  Queen  soon  came  to  know  all  the  remark- 
able places  in  the  neighbourhood.  Special  guide- 
books, illustrated  with  water-colour  drawings,  were 
prepared  for  her;  and  I  would  complete  these 
with  verbal  explanations.  My  royal  client  was 
interested  in  the  old  legends  which  the  popular 
imagination  attached  to  the  works  of  nature  or 
the  traces  of  the  past.  She  also  liked  to  go  to 
the  local  festivals,  particularly  those  which  re- 
called the  ancient  customs  of  the  country,  such  as 
the  festin  des  reproches  and  the  festin  des  cougour- 
dons.  The  festin  des  reproches  is  held  at  Cimiez, 
on  the  first  Sunday  in  Lent.  In  the  old  days, 
young  couples  came  to  make  mutual  admissions 
to  each  other  of  faults  committed  during  the 
excesses  of  the  carnival.  They  confessed  their 
misdeeds  ingenuously,  scolded  each  other  for 
form's  sake,  attended  a  religious  service;  then 
they  all  spread  over  the  market-square,  shaded 
by  magnificent  olive-trees,  over  the  sands  and 

along  the  neighbouring  paths,  where  the  couples 

351 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

became  reconciled,  kissed  and  broke  the  tra- 
ditional pan  bagnat  ^  together. 

The  festin  des  cougourdons  also  takes  place  at 
Cimiez,  on  the  25th  of  March,  the  feast  of  the 
Annunciation  or  Lady  Day.  It  is  the  most 
important  of  all  the  fairs;  and  it  is  attended  by 
over  twenty-five  thousand  visitors  every  year. 
There  is  one  great  sea  of  booths  and  rustic  stalls. 
The  Queen  was  very  fond  of  this  quaint  exhibition. 
Almost  every  year,  she  went  there  with  the  prin- 
cesses to  make  purchases;  and  you  can  imagine 
the  stall-keepers'  eagerness  to  attract  her  atten- 
tion to  their  wares,  to  obtain  the  favour  of 
"  purveying  "  to  Her  Majesty.  On  her  second 
visit,  she  was  not  a  little  surprised  to  find  that 
a  large  number  of  gourds  or  cougourdes  (whence 
the  name  of  the  fair)  were  adorned  with  her  coat 
of  arms  or  covered  with  inscriptions  in  her  honour. 
My  sleeve  was  pulled  on  the  left ;  a  voice  cried  in 
my  ear  on  the  right : 

"  Have  this  one,  too,  M.  Paoli  !  .  .  .  Look, 
here's  a  fine  one  !  " 

And  they  filled  my  arms  with  gourds.  The 
Queen  laughed  merrily  to  see  me  grappling  with 
the  salesmen  and  especially  the  saleswomen  : 

"  You  will  have  to  buy  them  all  !  "  she  said. 

Queen  Victoria  achieved  universal  popularity 
through  her  kindness  of  heart,  which  sometimes 
suggested  the  most  touching  and  delicate  actions 
to  her.  For  instance,  she  had  made  the  acquaint- 
ance of  a  poor  mother  of  a  family,  Mme.  Bessick, 

^  Pain  benit,  or  blessed  bread. — Translator's  Note. 
352 


QUEEN   VICTORIA 

in  whom  she  took  an  interest  because  one  day, 
when  the  Queen  happened  to  drive  by  her  cottage, 
this  good  woman,  although  she  had  only  one  lilac- 
bush  in  her  garden,  picked  all  its  blossoms  to 
present  them  to  the  sovereign.  From  that  time 
onward,  Mme.  Bessick  was  a  constant  recipient  of 
Queen  Victoria's  assistance. 

Some  time  after,  when  the  Queen  was  driving 
out  with  Princess  Christian  of  Schleswig-Holstein 
and  Lady  Antrim,  she  suddenly  caught  sight  of  a 
small  knot  of  people  proceeding  along  the  road 
in  front  of  us.  She  at  once  beckoned  me  to  her 
and  asked  : 

"  What  is  that  over  there,  M.  Paoli  ?  Is  it  a 
procession  ?  " 

"  I  rather  think  that  it  is  a  funeral.  Ma'am,"  I 
replied.  "  But  Your  Majesty  will  be  able  to  see 
in  a  moment." 

It  was,  as  I  expected,  a  funeral,  but  the  poor- 
est, saddest,  humblest  funeral  imaginable.  Just 
a  few  persons  walked  behind  the  hearse,  which 
was  adorned  with  neither  trappings  nor  wreaths. 
I  enquired  and  found  that  it  was  Mme.  Bessick 
being  taken  to  her  last  resting-place.  The  Queen 
thereupon  had  a  touching  inspiration.  Instead 
of  trotting  past  the  procession,  she  ordered 
her  coachman  to  drive  on  slowly  till  he  came  up 
with  it  and  to  follow  it  at  a  foot's  pace  to  the 
cemetery. 

Then,  taking  some  large  bunches  of  mimosa 

which  a  little  girl  had  thrown  into  the  hood  of  the 

carriage,  she  said  to  me  : 

A  A  353 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

"  Please  go  and  lay  these  flowers  for  me  on  the 
coffin  of  my  old  friend,  who  gave  me  so  many 
in  her  time.  I  owe  her  that  token  of  my 
regard." 

There  was  not,  as  one  might  be  inclined  to 
think,  any  calculation  on  her  part,  any  aiming 
at  popularity,  in  this  constant  solicitude  for  the 
poor,  for  the  humble,  for  human  wretchedness. 
She  was  naturally,  spontaneously  kind;  and  this 
sovereign,  who  knew  how  to  sway  the  destinies 
of  the  greatest  nation  in  the  world  with  so  firm 
and  able  a  hand,  revealed  the  heart  of  a  good 
woman,  in  all  its  middle-class  simplicity  and  all 
its  touching  candour,  the  moment  she  left  her 
closet  and  descended  from  the  mighty  pedestal 
on  which  she  cut  so  great  a  figure  as  a  "  states- 
man." She  took  the  same  serious  interest  in 
small  things  as  though  a  grave  and  world-wide 
problem  were  at  stake. 

I  remember  that,  one  afternoon,  the  Queen 
was  returning  from  a  long  political  conference 
with  Lord  Salisbury  at  the  Villa  de  la  Bastide, 
when  we  met  on  the  road  a  nurse  wheeling  a 
pale  and  frail-looking   baby. 

The  Queen  glanced  at  it,  seemed  distressed 
and,  telling  the  coachman  to  stop,  beckoned 
the  frightened  nurse  to  come  to  her  : 

"  Is  the  child  ill  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  He's  anaemic.  Madam  :   that  is  why  we  have 
come   down   here   from   Copenhagen,   where  the 
family    live.     The    doctor    ordered    him    to   the 
south." 
854 


QUEEN   VICTORIA 

"  That's  quite  right ;  but  it's  not  enough.  I 
will  tell  you  what  you  ought  to  do  for  him." 

And  the  Queen  carefully  explained  to  the  nurse 
the  treatment  best  suited  to  the  child.  Among 
other  things,  she  advised  that  he  should  be  given 
ass's  milk.  The  nurse  promised  to  follow  her 
prescriptions  to  the  letter. 

A  little  while  after,  we  met  the  nurse  and  the 
child  again.  The  Queen  stopped  the  carriage,  took 
the  baby  in  her  arms,  saw  that  he  had  become 
pink  and  lusty,  paid  the  nurse  a  compliment  and 
slipped  a  piece  of  gold  into  her  hand.  She  seemed 
as  delighted  with  the  success  of  the  cure  as  though 
the  child  had  been  her  own. 

This  maternal  solicitude  was  also  extended  to 
animals,  as  we  have  already  learnt  from  the  happy 
lot  of  Jacquot  and  as  was  proved  by  the  constant 
cares  which  she  bestowed  upon  Spot,  the  fox- 
terrier,  Roy,  the  collie,  and  Marco,  the  toy  poodle. 
It  was  shown,  moreover,  in  the  instructions  which 
the  Queen  gave  to  her  outrider  to  arrange  for 
relays  of  horses  at  regular  distances,  whenever  the 
drive  on  which  we  were  going  was  longer  or 
rougher  than  usual. 

Her  humanity  towards  dumb  animals  was  so 
well  known  that  every  member  of  the  royal  suite 
set  his  wits  to  work  to  spare  her  feelings.  The 
Scotch  gillie,  for  instance,  who  always  sat  on  the 
box  beside  the  coachman,  felt  obliged,  in  order 
to  please  the  Queen,  to  climb  down  from  his  seat 
whenever  the  horses  were  going  up-hill  and  walk 
beside  the  carriage.     Unfortunately,  the  High- 

AA2  355 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

lander  was  big  and  fat;  and  the  steeds  were 
mettlesome  and  in  good  condition.  The  poor 
fellow  was  in  tortures  on  days  when  he  had  lunched 
at  all  well  and  when  the  ascent  was  long.  After 
ten  minutes'  climbing,  he  would  limp  along, 
looking  apoplectic  in  the  face,  lame  and  panting. 
In  the  end,  I  took  pity  on  him  and,  one  fine  day, 
suggested  that  he  should  get  into  my  carriage, 
which  followed  the  Queen's.  He  at  first  made 
difficulties,  alleging  that  "  Her  Majesty  might 
notice  "  the  subterfuge,  but  in  reality  I  believe 
he  demurred  only  with  a  view  to  saving  his  self- 
respect,  for  it  did  not  take  me  long  to  overcome 
his  scruples.  He  soon  acquired  the  habit  of 
transferring  his  person  to  my  carriage  when  the 
horses  embarked  upon  an  ascent;  and,  as  soon 
as  the  Queen's  landau  reached  the  top  of  the  hill, 
he  would  run  ahead  briskly  and  resume  his  seat 
on  the  box.  Did  the  Queen  "  notice  it  ?  "  She 
may  have  done  so;  but,  in  any  case,  as  she  was 
very  good-natured,  she  pretended  not  to  see. 


Her  Majesty  had  a  military  cast  of  mind.  She 
showed  a  kindly  interest  in  our  soldiers,  especially 
in  those  who  were  posted  at  the  entrance  to  the 
hotel  and  who  formed  her  guard  of  honour.  I 
had  observed  that  she  deigned  to  cast  a  friendly 
glance  upon  our  little  pioupious  ^  each  time  she 

^  "Tommies/'  infantry  of  the  line. — Translator's  Note. 
356 


QUEEN   VICTORIA 

passed  in  front  of  the  company  on  guard  at  the 
hotel  or  before  the  sentries  presenting  arms ;  and, 
one  day,  when  it  rained,  she  was  much  upset 
because  the  men  were  without  shelter  : 

"  Why,  it's  simply  inhuman,  M.  Paoli,  to  let 
those  poor  soldiers  get  so  wet,  when  there's  no 
need  for  it  !  " 

"  There  has  been  no  time,"  I  explained,  "  to 
put  up  sentry-boxes  for  them." 

"  They  must  have  them  as  soon  as  possible ; 
and  very  comfortable  ones.  .  .  .  Meanwhile, 
please  let  them  go  inside  and  send  them  some 
hot  wine  from  me  to  drink." 

This  was  quite  enough  to  ensure  her  popularity 
with  our  pioupious !  On  the  other  hand,  I 
confess  that  I  used  to  do  my  best  to  give  the  Queen 
a  high  opinion  of  our  army.  Thus  it  would  often 
happen,  in  the  course  of  our  drives,  that  a  little 
troop  sprang  into  view  at  a  turn  in  the  road, 
pretended  to  interrupt  its  drill  and  stood  to 
attention  and  saluted  as  the  royal  carriage  passed. 
At  other  times,  we  would  come  upon  a  regiment 
manoeuvring,  in  the  heat  of  an  assault  :  the 
artillery  would  thunder,  the  rifles  crack  and  a 
squadron  of  cavalry  dash  across  country,  cheer- 
ing loudly  as  they  passed  our  cavalcade,  which 
had  drawn  up  by  the  roadside.  The  good 
Queen  would  clap  her  hands  delightedly  and 
say  : 

"  How    nice    they    are  !     How    smart    they 

look  !  " 

And  thereupon  one  and  all  would  burst  into 

357 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

loud  praises  of  our  troops,  while  I  secretly  ap- 
plauded myself  on  having  suggested,  planned 
and,  with  the  complicity  of  the  military  authori- 
ties, carefully  contrived  this  chance  encounter, 
which  had  done  so  much  to  flatter  my  patriotic 
vanity  ! 

Once  I  was  convinced  of  the  pleasure  which  the 
Queen  derived  from  military  displays,  I  became 
ambitious.  I  felt  that  any  serious  proof  of  Her 
Majesty's  interest  and  affection  for  our  army  was 
likely  to  make  an  excellent  impression  not  only 
in  France,  but  abroad.  I  therefore  suggested  that 
she  should  hold  a  review,  on  the  Promenade  des 
Anglais,  of  the  Nice  garrison  and  of  the  Alpine 
battalions  from  the  frontier. 

The  proposal  attracted  her  at  once.  Besides, 
she  saw  through  the  political  importance  which  I 
attached  to  this  manifestation — for  she  was  very 
sharp-witted — and  she  showed  me,  with  a  charm- 
ing delicacy,  that  she  entered  into  my  views  and 
that  she  meant  to  give  it  all  the  significance  which 
I  wished  her  to  attribute  to  it : 

"  I  will  not  only  go  to  the  review,"  she  said,  "  but 
I  will  lay  aside  my  incognito  for  the  occasion  and 
ask  the  officers  of  my  suite  to  accompany  me  in 
full-dress  uniform." 

And  so,  a  few  days  later,  on  a  glorious  morning, 
facing  the  blue  sea,  ten  thousand  men  were  seen 
marching  past  a  landau  in  which  sat  a  venerable 
lady,  surrounded  by  a  brilliant  staff,  smiling  under 
her  white  sunshade  and  even  betraying  a  little 
358 


QUEEN   VICTORIA 

excitement.  .  .  .  When,  at  last,  bringing  up  the 
rear  in  magnihcent  order,  the  smart  battahons 
of  Alpine  chasseurs  swung  along  in  their  turn, 
while  their  band  struck  up  a  telling  march,  an 
immense  cheer  rose  from  the  crowd. 

The  Queen  expressed  her  surprise  that  the  music 
should  have  aroused  this  exceptional  enthusiasm. 

"  That,  Ma'am,  is  because  they  are  playing  the 
Alsace-Lorraine  March,"  I  explained. 

"  Ah,  just  so.  ...  I  understand,"  she  replied, 
giving  me  a  deep  look  from  her  eyes. 


The  Queen  had  a  very  nice  sense  of  etiquette 
and  was  quick  to  take  alarm  if  others  paid  less 
attention  to  it  than  she  did. 

I  remember  that  she  was  quite  upset  in  con- 
sequence of  a  little  incident  that  occurred  at  the 
time  of  M.  Fehx  Faure's  visit  to  Nice  in  April  1898. 
It  happened  that,  before  the  President  had  had 
time  to  call  upon  the  Queen,  his  carriage  passed 
the  landau  in  which  Queen  Victoria  was  going  for 
her  daily  drive.  As  he  was  to  pay  his  official  visit 
to  the  Queen  that  evening  and  as  he  was  very 
punctilious  in  matters  of  etiquette,  the  President 
considered  that  he  must  content  himself  with 
bowing.  Consequently,  when  his  carriage  caught 
up  the  royal  landau,  he  made  her  one  of  those 
magnificent  ceremonial  bows,  accompanied  by  a 

359 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

grand  flourish  of  the  hat,  of  which  he  alone 
possessed  the  secret,  and  drove  on.  Now,  in  the 
meanwhile,  Her  Majesty,  who  was  told  that  the 
President  had  recognized  her  and  bowed  to  her, 
had  at  once  ordered  her  coachman  to  stop,  feeling 
certain  that  M.  Faure  would  turn  back  to  speak  to 
her.  I  hoped  that  he  would  turn  back ;  but,  with 
his  usual  correctness  of  conduct,  he  did  not ;  and 
his  carriage  soon  disappeared  in  a  cloud  of  dust. 
There  was  no  point  in  waiting  any  longer;  and 
we  started  off  again,  feeling  a  little  put  out. 

When  we  entered  the  hotel,  the  Queen  asked 
me,  with  a  shade  of  annoyance  in  her  voice  : 

"  Why  did  not  the  President  stop,  as  I 
did  ?  " 

"  Because  he  certainly  did  not  perceive  that 
Your  Majesty  was  good  enough  to  expect  him  to," 
I  replied. 

"  I  call  it  rather  strange,"  she  added. 

I  hastened,  as  the  reader  can  imagine,  to  inform 
M.  Felix  Faure  of  the  incident,  so  that  he  was  able 
to  make  his  excuses  for  this  involuntary  mis- 
understanding;  and  I  need  not  say  that  "  every- 
thing was  arranged  for  the  best,"  as  in  M.  Alfred 
Capus'  comedies. 

For  the  rest,  of  all  the  French  presidents  whom 
she  had  occasion  to  meet,  M.  Felix  Faure  was 
undoubtedly  the  one  who  made  the  most  favour- 
able impression  upon  her.  She  liked  his  showy 
manner,  his  wish  to  please  and  his  obliging 
nature;  in  fact,  she  was  always  greatly  touched 
360 


QUEEN   VICTORIA 

by  the  least  attention  of  which  she  was  the  object, 
being  herself  very  attentive  to  everybody  who  had 
access  to  her.  Thus,  in  addition  to  the  gifts  in 
money  which  she  distributed  with  a  generous 
hand,  she  never  failed,  on  leaving  Nice,  to  present 
"  souvenirs  "  to  all  the  people  with  whom  she 
had  come  more  or  less  directly  into  contact. 
With  this  object,  she  always  brought  an  enormous 
supply  of  trinkets  with  her  on  her  trips  to  France. 
The  trunk  containing  the  presents  in  the  royal 
luggage  held  enough  to  stock  a  jeweller's  shop, 
comprising  as  it  did  watches,  chains,  pins,  brace- 
lets, rings,  pocket-books,  framed  photographs  and 
inkstands  without  number.  Her  Majesty  would 
delve  into  it  at  every  moment  to  reward  the  zeal 
of  the  officials,  the  police,  the  railway-people  and 
so  on.  At  the  end  of  her  stay,  gifts  were  distri- 
buted to  over  a  hundred  persons.  From  the 
prefect's  wife  to  the  gendarme,  each  received  his 
little  leather  case ;  and,  wonderful  to  relate,  there 
was  never  a  blunder  committed  :  no  one  ever 
received  the  same  present  twice.  The  Queen 
remembered  exactly  what  she  had  given  the  year 
before  and  kept  her  "  gift-book  "  as  methodically 
as  a  tradesman  keeps  his  ledger.  If  the  station- 
master  had  a  pocket-book  one  year,  he  had  a 
cigarette-holder  the  next ;  and  each  of  these  was 
carefully  entered  on  the  Queen's  list. 

But  there  is  one  thing  which  I  shall  never  weary 
of  repeating,  because  I  was  one  of  the  few  wit- 
nesses of  it  and  one  of  the  privileged  accomplices  : 

361 


MY  ROYAL   CLIENTS 

the  Queen's  great  heart  must  be  measured  and 
appreciated  not  so  much  by  her  manifest  bounties 
as  by  those  presents  and  acts  of  kindness  which 
were  dehberately  kept  secret.  I  had  constantly 
to  put  her  on  her  guard  against  the  vampires  who, 
under  pretence  of  poverty,  made  appeals  to  her 
open-handedness. 

"  Here,"  she  would  say  to  me,  in  a  low  voice, 
"  here  is  a  trifle  which  I  want  you  to  take  to 

M.  X ,  or  Mme.  Z ;   but  don't  say  that 

it  comes  from  me." 

And  often  she  would  slip  as  much  as  a  hundred, 
or  a  thousand,  or  fifteen  hundred  francs  into  my 
hand. 

When  I  knew  that  the  person  to  benefit  by  one 
of  these  liberal  acts  of  charity  was  nothing  more 
than  a  common  blackmailer,  who  was  trying  to 
move  the  Queen  to  pity,  I  at  once  told  her  so,  but 
never  succeeded  in  convincing  her. 

"  Yes,  Paoli,"  she  replied,  "  I  know  that  I  am 
sometimes  imposed  upon,  but  I  would  rather  make 
a  mistake  in  giving  too  often  than  in  not  giving 
often  enough.  Besides,  who  knows  ?  Perhaps 
behind  that  dishonest  beggar  there  is  a  woman 
or  a  child  who  will  benefit  indirectly  by  my 
alms." 

I  only  once  saw  her  protest — and  that  very 
mildly — against  the  abuse  of  her  generous  com- 
passion. There  was  a  worthy  legless  beggar,  a 
jovial,  talkative  fellow,  who  managed  to  attract 
her  attention  by  posting  himself  on  her  road  in  his 
362 


QUEEN   VICTORIA 

little  primitive  vehicle  drawn  by  two  big  dogs. 
The  Queen  gave  him  ten  francs  each  time;  and, 
every  year,  she  sent  him  fifty  francs  on  the  day 
before  her  departure.  The  old  beggar,  who  was 
a  native  of  Marseilles,  ended  by  looking  upon 
himself  as  forming  part  of  the  English  court. 
He  spoke  of  "  Our  Majesty  "  and  learnt  to  jabber 
a  few  words  of  English.  At  last,  one  year,  he 
had  the  impertinence  to  paint,  in  red  letters,  on 
one  side  of  his  go-cart,  the  official  words,  "  By 
special  appointment  to  Her  Majesty." 

When  the  Queen  heard  of  this,  she  considered 
that  the  cripple  had  gone  too  far  and  asked  me  to 
tell  him  so ;  but  she  continued  his  pension  never- 
theless. 

And  thus,  every  day,  at  every  turn,  a  thousand 
minor  circumstances  proved  the  infinite  kindness 
of  the  old  Queen's  heart  and  strengthened  the 
links  that  bound  her  to  our  people.  I  did  my 
best  to  encourage  this  sentimental  reconciliation, 
because  I  considered  that  my  country  was  bound 
to  benefit  by  it  and  because  I  was  already 
a  convinced  adherent  of  the  entente  cordiale, 
although,  at  that  time,  no  one  had  yet  dreamt 
of  it ! 

The  Queen,  on  her  side,  appreciated  my  efforts 
and  showed  me  the  most  touching  gratitude. 
For  instance,  I  was  the  first  Frenchman  to  receive 
the  Victorian  Order,  which  she  herself  conferred 
upon  me  at  Nice  in  the  year  1896,  on  the  day  after 
that  on  which  she  signed  the  decree  instituting 

363 


MY   ROYAL   CLIENTS 

the  order ;  and,  again,  I  was  invited  to  attend  the 
Jubilee  celebrations  in  1897  as  her  guest.  ...  I 
was,  in  fact,  in  her  eyes,  not  only  the  confidant 
of  her  generous  thoughts  and  lesser  cares  and  the 
guardian  of  her  peace  and  tranquillity:  I  was  also 
and  above  all  things  the  irremovable  functionary 
whom  she  found  faithfully  at  his  post,  each  time 
that  she  came  to  France.  Presidents  of  the 
republic  followed  one  upon  the  other,  ministries 
rose  and  fell,  prefects  and  generals  changed.  I 
alone  did  not  stir,  I  was  always  there,  giving  the 
illusion  of  stability  in  our  country  where  "  all  is 
fleeting,  all  is  brittle,  all  is  wearisome." 

When  I  heard  the  news  of  Queen  Victoria's 
death,  it  was  to  me  as  though  I  had  lost  one  of 
my  own  family,  it  seemed  as  though  a  chapter — 
and  the  happiest  chapter  ! — of  my  life  and  my 
career  had  been  brought  to  a  sudden  conclusion. 

I  cannot  better  express  the  sentiment  which 
I  felt  for  the  revered  sovereign  and  that  which  she 
deigned  to  show  to  me  than  by  printing  the  tele- 
gram which  I  received,  on  the  day  after  the  fatal 
ending,  from  her  secretary,  Sir  Arthur  Bigge,  in 
the  name  of  the  royal  family  : 

"  Osborne,  24  January  1901,  4.15  p.m. 

"  Your  sad  and  faithful  sympathy  touches  us 
deeply  amid  our  cruel  loss.  Are  most  grateful 
for  your  touching  condolences.  We  shall  never 
forget  your  loyal  and  invaluable  services  to  our 
364 


QUEEN   VICTORIA 

august  sovereign,  who  always  held  you  in  high 
esteem  and  great  affection. 

"  Arthur  Bigge." 

And  I  think  I  am  safe  in  saying  that  I  am  not 
the  only  Frenchman  who  has  piously  preserved 
the  cult  of  that  great  figure  throughout  the 
intervening  years. 


365 


Richard  Clay  &  Sons,  Limited, 

brunswick  street,  stamford  staeet,  s.e., 
and  bungay,  suffolk. 


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